Sensex opens at record high, Nifty above 23,500

Indian shares tracked global equities higher with the benchmark indexes hitting record highs at the open as soft US retail sales data reinforced expectations of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.31% at 23,629.85, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.31% to 77,543.22. Twelve of the 13 major sectors logged gains. Forty-six of Nifty 50 companies advanced.

Small- and mid-caps also rose 0.5% and 0.35%, respectively, to all-time high levels. Wall Street equities closed higher overnight, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing at record high levels, as weaker-than-expected US retail sales data signalled cooling inflation.

The data led to a small boost in rate cut expectations for September to 61.1% from 56.7%.

Top gainers in Sensex

Among the 30 Sensex companies, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers. Titan, NTPC, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.

What about Asian markets?

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading higher while Shanghai quoted lower.

FII tracker

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,569.40 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

How stock market closed on Tuesday?

The BSE benchmark climbed 308.37 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at a new closing peak of 77,301.14 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 92.30 points or 0.39 per cent to hit a record closing high of 23,557.90.