Sensex gyrates 1,593 pts, tests 83k level

Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex hit the historic 83,000 level for the first time on Thursday and NSE Nifty settled at a lifetime high in a late rally in blue-chip shares, surge in global markets and foreign fund inflows.

A sharp fag-end rally drove the 30-share BSE Sensex to the 83,000 level for the first time. The barometer surged 1,593.03 points or 1.95 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 83,116.19 in the last hour of trade. The index closed at a record high of 82,962.71, up by 1,439.55 points or 1.77 per cent. The NSE Nifty surged 470.45 points or 1.89 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 25,388.90. The benchmark hit its fresh all-time intra-day high of 25,433.35, a jump of 514.9 points or 2 per cent. Nifty and Sensex opened higher and traded in a range till late afternoon trade.

“The bulls took charge towards the end of the day and lifted the indices to a new high, mirroring the bullish global trend. The rate-cut optimism across the globe (ECB & US Fed) has provided a positive impetus to the global market,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.32 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 0.79 per cent.

“While the session remained subdued for the most part, strong buying in heavyweight stocks across sectors propelled the indices sharply upward in the final hours,” added Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd. A total of 2,335 stocks advanced, while 1,612 declined and 122 remained unchanged on the BSE. Also, 278 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 36 declined to their 52-week lows.

“This paves the way for a rate cut by the Fed in September. But since core inflation continues to remain high at 3.2 per cent the Fed is likely to be cautious and refrain from a 50 bps rate cut, finally settling for a 25 bps rate cut,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest gainers. Nestle emerged as the only laggard from the blue-chip pack. All indices ended in the positive territory. Metal surged 3.05 per cent, telecommunication (2.61 per cent), power (2.02 per cent), auto (1.99 per cent), utilities (1.93 per cent) and commodities (1.85 per cent).

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled with significant gains while Shanghai ended marginally lower.