Benchmark equity indices soared on Wednesday, with the Nifty reaching a new record high and the Sensex climbing nearly 600 points. This surge was driven by strong buying in blue-chip stocks like HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries, alongside gains in IT stocks. The NSE Nifty rose by 177.1 points, or 0.76%, to hit an all-time high of 23,441.95 during late morning trade. Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 593.94 points, or 0.77%, to 77,050.53, just 28.51 points shy of its previous lifetime peak of 77,079.04 set on Monday.
Top gainers and losers
Among the major gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Tata Motors, and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Asian Paints, and Mahindra & Mahindra were the notable laggards.
Asian markets and global cues
In the Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai traded positively, while Tokyo and Hong Kong were in the red. US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday.
Expert insights
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted, "The 32% decline in India VIX over the last 5 days indicates that the days of heightened volatility are over and the market has entered a consolidation phase. From now on, the focus will be on fundamentals and news flows." He added that tonight's US inflation numbers and the Fed policy outcome will influence the direction of the global equity market.
Other market indicators
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 0.44% to USD 82.28 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 111.04 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Previous session performance
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark declined by 33.49 points, or 0.04%, to settle at 76,456.59. In a volatile trade session, the Nifty ended marginally up by 5.65 points, or 0.02%, at 23,264.85.
Also read | Sensex rises 200 points, Nifty surpasses 23,300; realty and PSU banks lead sectoral gains
