Markets on record-making spree rally for 8th day

Benchmark indices rallied for the eighth day running on Thursday, ending at fresh record closing highs, amid firm global market trends and continuous foreign fund inflows.

Buying in IT counters also added to the momentum. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 184.54 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 63,284.19, its fresh record closing high. During the day, it rallied 483.42 points or 0.76 per cent to 63,583.07, its lifetime intra-day peak.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 54.15 points or 0.29 per cent to end at 18,812.50, its new record closing high.

Among the Sensex pack, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Larsen & Toubro were the major winners.

ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly in the green in the afternoon trade. Wall Street had ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

“Fed chief Jerome Powell’s observation that ‘it makes sense to moderate the pace of rate hikes’ has come as a shot in the arm for the bulls to take the ongoing rally forward,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.40 per cent higher at USD 87.32 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 9,010.41 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.