Sensex zooms 569 points to fresh record; crosses 61,000 mark for the first time

Mumbai, October 14

Extending its winning run to the sixth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex rallied 569 points to close at a new peak on Thursday, driven by gains in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and ITC amid positive macro cues and upbeat global markets.

Closing above the 61,000-mark for the first time, the 30-share Sensex settled 568.90 points or 0.94 per cent higher at 61,305.95. Similarly, the Nifty surged 176.80 points or 0.97 per cent to a new lifetime closing high of 18,338.55.

ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and NTPC.

On the other hand, TCS, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

“The Indian market sustained its upbeat mood supported by positive global market, favourable inflation data and upmove in IT stocks following strong earning scorecards by sector majors,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

The wholesale price-based inflation eased to 10.66 per cent in September, helped by moderating food prices even as crude petroleum witnessed a spike.

Retail inflation in September too slowed to a five-month low of 4.4 per cent on moderating food prices.

“Banking stocks also contributed to the rally and remained in focus as the sector is set to kickstart its earnings season,” Nair added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Seoul and Tokyo ended with strong gains, while Shanghai was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.02 per cent to USD 84.03 per barrel. PTI