Sensex skyrockets 958 points to fresh peak as global markets brush aside hawkish Fed

The BSE Sensex vaulted 958 points to scale a fresh lifetime high on Thursday, propelled by across-the-board buying amid a positive trend in global equities despite hawkish comments from the U.S. Fed.

Robust gains in the rupee further buoyed sentiment, traders said.

Reversing the previous session’s lethargy, the 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 958.03 points or 1.63 % to end at an all-time high of 59,885.36. It scaled a new peak of 59,957.25 during the day.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points or 1.57 % to its new closing high of 17,822.95, after touching an intra-day record of 17,843.90.

Bajaj Finserv topped the Sensex gainers’ chart, climbing 5.15 %, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries (RIL) and IndusInd Bank.

Index heavyweights RIL and HDFC twins accounted for nearly half of the benchmark’s gains.

Only five counters closed in the red – Dr Reddy’s, ITC, Nestle India, HUL and Bharti Airtel, skidding up to 1.07 %.

“Amidst a strong start, bulls showed no signs of weakness to soar higher, boosted by strong global cues and broad-based buying led by realty, metal and banking stocks. Global markets tempered optimism despite a slightly hawkish tilt by the Fed Reserve intimating that the US central bank will begin reducing its asset purchases in November and conclude the tapering process around mid-2022.”

“However, investors continue to remain on the edge awaiting clarity on the Chinese economy. The domestic reality sector continued its rally sparked by demand revival in the property space,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Devang Mehta, Head – Equity Advisory, Centrum Broking, said the market took the US Fed statement of starting tapering as soon as November in its stride.

“…the rally today was symbolic of the prevailing strong sentiment locally on the back of reduction in COVID cases and the strong vaccination numbers. With improvement in economic activity and the optimism around the capex cycle revival, the earnings trajectory for India Inc will naturally get a big boost.

“Most of the companies which are market leaders in their respective domains have seen operating efficiencies and productivity improve and also been able to reduce debt with prominent gain in market share as well. Liquidity remains extremely strong, be it foreign portfolio investors, local mutual funds, insurance companies, family offices, HNIs or even the retail investors,” he noted.

Sector-wise, BSE realty, bankex, energy, finance, capital goods and industrials indices rallied up to 8.71 %, while FMCG closed in the red.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap gauges followed the benchmarks, surging up to 1.28 %.

World stocks maintained their upward trajectory even after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will likely begin reducing its asset purchases as early as November, and also hinted at rate hikes from next year.

Investors also monitored the Evergrande debt crisis in China, with the real estate major scheduled to make bond interest payments later on Thursday.

In Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Seoul was in the red. Japanese market was closed for holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also in the positive zone in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.12 % to $ 76.10 per barrel.

The rupee rebounded by 23 paise to close at 73.64 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth ₹ 1,943.26 crore, as per exchange data.