Stock markets hit new record highs; Sensex breaches 69k-mark, Nifty eyes 21k level

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty settled at new peaks on Tuesday, rallying for the sixth straight session amid massive buying in power and utility sector shares. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 431.02 points, or 0.63 per cent, to close at a new record high of 69,296.14. The broader index Nifty also climbed 168.50 points, or 0.81 per cent to hit its lifetime high of 20,855.30. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms surged by more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore to cross Rs 350 lakh crore on Tuesday.

Analysts said the positive sentiment was fuelled by unabated inflow of foreign funds on the back of robust sentiment built up over favourable macroeconomic data in the previous week and the results of assembly polls of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that raised expectations of longer political stability in the country. Also, investors are expecting the Reserve Bank to maintain the status quo on the interest rate in its bi-monthly monetary policy decision to be announced on Friday, they said. Among major Sensex movers, Power Grid rose the most by 4.46 per cent, NTPC by 3.89 per cent, SBI by 2.31 per cent and ICICI Bank by 2.28 per cent. Other gainers included Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan and Maruti.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance remained laggards with losses of up to 1.49 per cent. As many as 20 stocks of the 30-share benchmark closed with gains, while among Nifty firms, 32 shares registered gains. Foreign institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 2,073.21 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. "The domestic market extended the gains and hit fresh highs despite cautiousness among global peers ahead of key US job data this week. The aura of the state election results and other positive factors like above-expected earnings and GDP growth data are supporting the return of FII flows to the Indian market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"The RBI's monetary policy meeting is expected to be status quo. However, the commentary on economic growth, foodgrain prices and inflation trajectory will be closely watched," he added. Meanwhile, in Asian markets, Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 were trading lower by 2.07 per cent and 1.37 per cent, respectively, while China's Shanghai Composite was trading 1.67 per cent lower. European markets were mixed. Germany's DAX gained 1.51 per cent and France's CAC 40 by 0.69 per cent. London's FTSE 100 declined 0.22 per cent. The US markets ended on a mixed note with S&P 500 registering a loss of 0.54 per cent on Monday. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 1 per cent to USD 78.81 a barrel. On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,383.93 points, or 2.05 per cent, to close at a lifetime high of 68,865.12. The barometer logged its biggest single-day jump since May 20, 2022. Nifty also climbed 418.90 points, or 2.07 per cent, to hit 20,686.80.