Sensex, Nifty surge to close at new highs
The BSE Sensex scaled the 59,000-mark for the first time on Thursday, propelled by gains in Reliance Industries, ITC and ICICI Bank amid unabated foreign fund inflows and positive cues from European markets. The 30-share index climbed 417.96 points or 0.71 per cent to close at 59,141.16. It touched an intra-day record of 59,204.29.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 110.05 points or 0.63 per cent to its new closing high of 17,629.50. During the session, it scaled an all-time peak of 17,644.60.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 7 per cent, followed by ITC, SBI, Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. On the other hand, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech and Dr Reddy's were among the laggards.
As per market observers, the up moves comes a day after government announced support measures for some beleaguered sectors along with provisions for PLI schemes for others. Initially, both key indices had a gap-up opening. However, global cues capped gains as Asian markets were largely weak as the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group and Beijing's latest push to rein in private industries hurt sentiments. Bourses in Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended with significant losses. However, equities in Europe were trading with robust gains in mid-session deals.
"So here goes...the big risk of investing in these markets is the risk of overpaying. And while it may still be ok to buy good quality stocks at stretched valuations but buying poor quality stocks with loss-making operations and bloated balance sheets should be a strict strict no-no. Investors in such companies have nowhere to hide when the tide turns. So one should be highly wary of investing in such companies," Rahul Shah, co-head of research at Equitymaster, said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets as they purchased shares worth Rs 232.84 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.16 per cent to USD 75.58 per barrel.
