Equity benchmark Sensex soared 689 points to end at a fresh all-time high on Friday, led by Infosys, TCS and Reliance amid strong buying sentiment in global equities. The 30-share BSE index closed 689.19 points or 1.43 per cent higher at 48,782.51. It touched an intra-day record of 48,854.34.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 209.90 points or 1.48 per cent to close at its record high of 14,347.25. During the day, the index scaled a life-time peak of 14,367.30. Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 6 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid and NTPC.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC and HDFC were the laggards. According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, growing expectations of stronger fiscal stimulus in the US after Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's victory have fuelled equities rally globally.
"Markets completely downplayed earlier concerns of reversal of lower tax rates in the scenario of Democrats taking control of both the houses of Congress," he added. A sustained rebound in key economic data for December 2020 and likely commencement of vaccination drive shortly in India augur well for domestic equities, he said, adding that the underlying strength of domestic equities is intact, which essentially can propel benchmark indices to witness fresh highs in coming weeks.
"FPIs are unlikely to turn net sellers barring select weeks of days considering the status of global economy, stance of global central bankers and weak dollar," he stated. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with significant gains, while Shanghai was in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a positive note in early deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.59 per cent higher at USD 54.70 per barrel.
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