Sensex scales Market 43K

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks rallied to fresh lifetime highs on Tuesday, propelled by banking and finance stocks, after positive results from Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine trials turbocharged global market sentiment.

Climbing for the seventh session on the trot, the BSE Sensex soared 680.22 points or 1.60 per cent to close above the 43,000-mark for the first time at 43,277.65. Intra-day, the 30-share benchmark touched its lifetime peak of 43,316.44.

The broader NSE Nifty too ended at its all-time high of 12,631.10, up 170.05 points or 1.36 per cent. It hit an intra-day record of 12,643.90 during the session. Both the benchmarks scaled record highs for the second straight session.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 8.84 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, ONGC and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Nestle India, Infosys, Sun Pharma and TCS were among the main laggards, tumbling up to 5.73 per cent. Global equities witnessed a relief-rally after Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday said their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19.

"Announcements by BioNTech and Pfizer about successful phase 3 trial of Covid-19 vaccine instilled confidence among investors and possibility of sustained economic recovery led sharp buying in beaten down stocks," said Arjun Yash Mahajan, Head Institutional Business at Reliance Securities. Favourable global markets and NDA's surprising lead in Bihar assembly elections also supported the rally, he added.

However, champions that emerged during pandemic like IT and pharma stocks witnessed sharp profit booking, he noted.The ruling NDA in Bihar was ahead of its rivals in more than half of the state's 243 assembly seats, with the BJP appearing set to outperform its senior alliance partner JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, according to trends available till late afternoon.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai settled lower. Stock exchanges in Europe were mostly trading on a positive note. Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,548.39 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.42 per cent higher at USD 43 per barrel. The rupee depreciated by 3 paise to close at 74.18 against the US dollar as higher crude oil prices and stronger dollar against key global currencies weighed on sentiment.