Benchmarks at record highs; Sensex up 850 pts, Nifty tops 21,150

Indian equities followed the global beat and jumped in early hours on Thurday after the US Federal Reserve forecasted at least three rate cuts next year.

The S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 861 points, or 1.24 per cent, to quote at 70,450 levels, while the Nifty50 surpassed the 21,100-mark to hit 21,171 levels, up 250 points. Both the indices hit record highs in the process.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices also moved in tandem with the frontline indices, rising 0.82 per cent and 0.93 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, all the indices were edging higher led by the Nifty IT index (up 2.8 per cent), and the Nifty Bank, Private Bank, PSU Bank, Financial Services, and Realty indices (gaining up to 2 per cent).