Markets close at fresh highs today; Sensex surges 958 points & Nifty closes at 17,823

Domestic benchmark indices ended at fresh all-time highs on Thursday, September 23, 2021, amid positive global cues. The S&P BSE Sensex closed with a gain of 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent at a fresh all-time high of 59,885.36. This was the biggest gain for Sensex in four months. The Nifty 50 closed 276.30 points or 1.57 per cent to also close at a fresh high of 17,822.95. Similarly, the Nifty Bank index closed 827.05 points or 2.24 per cent higher at 37,771.70.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap Index gained 1.3 per cent and the Small-Cap Index rose nearly 0.9 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1974 shares rose and 1265 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 40 shares advanced and 10 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Bajaj Finserv (up 4.63 per cent), Hindalco (up 4.49 per cent), Larsen & Turbo (up 3.72 per cent), Tata Motors (up 3.51 per cent) and Coal India (up 3.33 per cent). The top five losers were HDFC Life (down 1.08 per cent), Dr Reddy's (down 0.96 per cent), JSW Steel (down 0.63 per cent), Tata Consumer (down 0.49 per cent) and ITC (down 0.47 per cent).

Paras Defence IPO

The Rs 170.7 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited was subscribed 304.26 times today, the last day of bidding. The price band for the issue of the Mumbai-based defence company was fixed at Rs 165-175 per share. The issue comprised of a fresh issue of Rs 140.6 crore by the company and an offer for sale of up to 17,24,490 equity shares by existing shareholders including Paras Defence promoters.

COVID-19 Updates

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 23,00,90,110 with 47,19,197 deaths. India reported 3,01,640 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,46,050 deaths while 3,28,15,731 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

India has attracted Foreign Direct Investment, FDI inflow of $27.37 billion during the first four months of this financial year which is 62 per cent higher as compared to the corresponding period last financial year.

Commerce and Industry Ministry said, the measures taken by the government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country. The Ministry said, FDI equity inflow also grew by 112 per cent in the first four months of this financial year compared to the same period last year.

Automobile Industry' has emerged as the top sector with 23 per cent share of the total FDI Equity inflow followed by Computer Software and Hardware with 18 per cent and Services Sector 10 per cent.

The Fed did not give a specific timeline on when it may begin moderating its purchases. If progress continues broadly as expected, the Committee judges that moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted, the Fed's post-meeting statement said. The central bank has been buying $120 billion a month of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep short-term rates anchored near zero on Wednesday. The Fed is split on the timing of the first interest rate hike. Wednesday's so-called dot plot of projections showed nine of the 18 FOMC members expect a rate increase in 2022. That's up from seven in June's Fed projections.