Indian equities soared to record highs for yet another day on Wednesday supported by IT, auto, power, banks and metal stocks. Both Sensex and Nifty traded at a new life time high.
Finally, the rupee closed 73.50, stronger by 18 paise from its previous close of 73.68 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 73.74 and 73.50 respectively.
At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex gained 476.11 points or 0.82% at 58,723.20 with 19 components registering rise. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went up by 139.45 points or 0.80% at 17,519.45 with 30 components posting rise.
Major gainers in the 30-share index were NTPC (7.16%), Bharti Airtel (4.53%), HCL Technologies (2.86%), Titan (2.83%), State Bank of India (2.49%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (2.21%), TCS (1.79%) and IndusInd Bank (1.67%).
On the other hand, Axis Bank (0.38%), Asian Paints (0.31%), UltraTech Cement (0.27%), Nestle (0.16%), Sun Pharma (0.15%), HDFC Bank (0.07%) and Bajaj Finance (0.04%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.
Market breadth was positive with 2,055 advances against 1,246 declines.
Global cues continued to be weak as slowdown in US consumer inflation failed to overcome concerns about the fast-spreading Delta variant, resulting in slowed economic growth and pandemic-related shortages of labour and supplies continued to drive up prices. Further, weak Chinese economic data, along with China's tightening grip on its technology companies and a widening liquidity crisis kept investors on edge.
Commenting on the market outlook, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, "Equity markets opened flat on account of weak global cues but gradually gained momentum and hit fresh record highs as risk appetite of investors improved with government announcing various incentives under PLI schemes. The government has approved production linked incentive scheme for auto industry, auto-component industry, drone industry and telecom industry to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities. The market witnessed across-the-board buying especially in IT, Auto and Telecom space. OIL & Gas stocks too rallied as oil prices touch 6-week high.
The market might be volatile on account of fragile global cues. US Fed and ECB’s decision with regards to stimulus tapering plans are the most awaited decisions and would keep the markets oscillating. Metals and oil prices along with FII flows would also continue to influence the market. Valuations too are rich and hence could lead to bouts of profit booking. But the overall sentiment in the domestic market remains positive, as controlled Covid cases domestically and strong pick up in vaccination drive, has led to healthy pick-up in economic activities, thus reflecting in continuous improvement of macro data points and positive earnings expectation."
