Markets soar to lifetime highs

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks galloped to lifetime highs on Wednesday, in lockstep with global markets which surged ahead of US President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration amid expectations of fresh stimulus by the incoming administration.

Rallying for the second straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced by 393.83 or 0.80 per cent to close at its fresh record of 49,792.12. The broader NSE Nifty jumped 123.55 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at a lifetime high of 14,644.70.

World stocks advanced on Wednesday after US Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen called for a hefty stimulus to protect the US economy. Biden, who will be sworn into office on Wednesday, has laid out a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal to boost the economy.

Among Sensex stocks, Maruti rose the most by 2.75 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra (2.67 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.98 per cent) and Asian Paints (1.98 per cent). Heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC and TCS accounted for the lion's share of the gains. Among losers, Power Grid dropped 1.75 per cent, NTPC 1.35 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.83 per cent and ITC 0.59 per cent.

"An optimistic western market aided the Indian market to touch lifetime highs with new buying in segments like auto, IT and PSU Bank. So far, the Q3 results are better than forecasted and this has led to continued buying across sectors. "Ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration as President, the US market is on an upbeat mood with high expectations of a big US stimulus," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sector-wise, BSE auto, energy, IT and teck indices climbed up to 2.18 per cent, while utilities, FMCG and telecom ended in the red. In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap gauges jumped as much as 1.08 per cent.

On the global markets front, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.7 per cent. Japanese market, however, dropped 0.4 per cent due to fresh COVID-19 concerns. European bourses were trading in the green in early deals.