Stock market rallies on macro data, FII inflows

Mumbai: Key equity index Nifty hit its lifetime high while Sensex jumped 493 points to close at an 11-week high, driven by favourable macroeconomic data and continuous foreign fund inflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 492.75 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 67,481.19, the highest closing level since September 18.

During the day, it surged 575.89 points or 0.85 per cent to 67,564.33. The Nifty climbed 134.75 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at an all-time high of 20,267.90. During the day, the benchmark touched its intra-day record high of 20,291.55, up 158.4 points or 0.78 per cent.

Among the Sensex firms, ITC, NTPC, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and Tata Steel were the major gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were among the laggards. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 8,147.85 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Better-than-estimated India GDP numbers will raise the growth outlook for FY24 and provide cheer for the market to continue its upward momentum.

The global market too rallied on hopes that the ECB has completed its rate-hiking cycle on the back of easing inflation and ahead of the FED chair speech on Friday.