Sensex gains 340 points to close at 65,785; Nifty nears 19,500

Equity benchmark indices scaled fresh all-time closing highs on Thursday, driven by unabated foreign fund inflows and buying in index major Reliance Industries.

Defying a weak trend in the global markets, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 339.60 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 65,785.64. During the day, the benchmark jumped 386.94 points or 0.59 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 65,832.98.

The NSE Nifty rallied 98.80 points or 0.51 per cent to end at a new record high of 19,497.30. In intra-day, it advanced 113.7 points or 0.58 per cent to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 19,512.20.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the biggest gainer, climbing nearly 5 per cent. Power Grid, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Axis Bank, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and Wipro were among the other major gainers.

Maruti, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Infosys and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth ₹1,603.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

“Foreign investors continue to provide unwavering support to the domestic market, helping to sustain the ongoing rally despite weak global cues. Global markets are displaying a negative trend, influenced by hawkish Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and US-China tensions,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to USD 76.86 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had dipped 33.01 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 65,446.04 on Wednesday. The Nifty eked out marginal gains of 9.50 points or 0.05 per cent to end at 19,398.50.