Sensex, Nifty soar to lifetime highs

After touching its lifetime intra-day peak of 42,645.33, the 30-share BSE index ended 704.37 points or 1.68 per cent higher at 42,597.43

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex surged 704 points to end at its all-time high on Monday amid a rally in global markets following Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election.

After touching its lifetime intra-day peak of 42,645.33, the 30-share BSE index ended 704.37 points or 1.68 per cent higher at 42,597.43 — its record closing high. The broader NSE Nifty too scaled a fresh intra-day peak of 12,474.05. It ended at a lifetime high of 12,461.05, up 197.50 points or 1.61 per cent.

---

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Maruti and ITC were among the laggards.

Indian markets opened on a positive note tracking positive Asian market peers as investors globally reacted to US presidential election results, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

Most market participants are hoping that the Joe Biden regime would spell good news for Indian companies, especially IT, and domestic financial markets. During the afternoon session, markets continued to trade in high spirits on sustained strong global cues and foreign capital inflows into the domestic market.

“Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have put in a net Rs 8,381 crore into Indian markets in first five trading sessions of November, with participants growing more confident in view of resumption of business activities and better than expected quarterly numbers, among others,” Solanki said.

FPIs purchased shares worth a net Rs 4,869.87 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended up to 2.12 per cent higher. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with nearly 2 per cent gains in early deals. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.26 per cent higher at $40.34 per barrel.