Sensex climbs 250 pts to record high of 85,400, Nifty tests 26,100 peak

Indian benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading at record high levels on Thursday, after starting the trading session nearly flat.

At 10 AM, the BSE Sensex was at 85,335.59, ahead by 165 points, or 0.19 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was at 26,046.35, ahead by 42.20 points, or 0.16 per cent.

10 out of the 30 stocks on the BSE Sensex were trading in the red, with losses led by Tata Steel (down 0.37 per cent), followed by ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, and NTPC, while the top gainers were Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.01 per cent), Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Motors.

On the Nifty 50, SBI Life (up 1.5 per cent), Tata Consmer Products, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, and Maruti Suzuki India were the top gainers, while Hero MotoCorp (down 1.65 per cent), ONGC, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, and NTPC, were the top drags.

Across sectors, the IT index was the top gainer, followed by FMCG and Realty indices, while financials and metal were dragging.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 were trading in the red at open.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 had reversed early losses on Wednesday to close at record-high levels.

The Sensex added 0.30 per cent to close at 85,169.87, after scaling a record high of 85,247 during intraday trade.

Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 touched an all-time high of 26,032.80 before closing at 26,004, up 0.25 per cent.

The broader market indices closed lower, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 settling 0.63 per cent and 0.42 per cent lower, respectively. The fear index, India VIX, ended 7.37 per cent lower at 12.41.

Media stocks outperformed the other sectoral indices by closing 2.94 per cent higher.

Bank Nifty, Financial Services, Metal, Pharma, Private Bank, and Realty indices also ended higher, while PSU Bank, IT, FMCG, and Auto indices closed in the red on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region rebounded on Thursday morning, with the Chinese markets expected to continue their upward momentum.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were trading at 19,336, ahead of the last close of 19,129.1. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.7 per cent in early trading, while the broader Topix climbed 1.2 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi led the region with a 1.77 per cent gain, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.68 per cent.

That apart, global stock indices mostly eased on Wednesday along with energy shares, while US Treasury yields rose as investors stuck to the view that the Federal Reserve will be able to create a soft landing for the US economy.

China’s yuan gave up earlier gains a day after China’s central bank unveiled its biggest stimulus since the pandemic to pull the economy out of its deflationary funk and back towards the government’s growth target.

In the US, Wednesday’s data showing new home sales falling in August had little impact on markets. Data on Tuesday showing US consumer confidence dropping by the most in three years in September added to worries about the labour market.

The US central bank last week began an anticipated series of interest rate cuts with a large half-percentage-point reduction.

Traders are now pricing in 59 per cent odds of a 50-basis point cut at the Fed’s November 7 meeting, up from 37 per cent a week ago, and a 41 per cent chance of a 25 basis point reduction, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Investors will be watching this week for US weekly jobless claims, due on Thursday, and the personal consumption expenditures price index, due on Friday.

On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 ended lower after hitting record highs in early trades, while Nasdaq was flat at close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.70 per cent, to 41,914.75, the S&P 500 dragged 0.19 per cent, to 5,722.26 and the Nasdaq Composite rose marginally by 0.04 per cent, to 18,082.21.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.11 per cent, to 843.61. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.11 per cent

The dollar index rose 0.68 per cent to 100.91. It earlier fell to 100.21, matching a low from September 18, which was the weakest since July 2023.

In Treasuries, US 10-year yields last traded up 4.9 basis points at 3.784 per cent. Since the September 18 rate cut, 10-year yields have risen about 3 bps.

Oil prices declined as supply disruptions concerns in Libya eased. US crude fell $1.87 to settle at $69.69 a barrel and Brent fell to $73.46 per barrel, down $1.71 on the day.

In other commodities, gold rose to a record high as expectations for another big rate cut by the Fed helped the bullion’s rally.

Spot gold gained 0.2 per cent to $2,662.00 per ounce by 1750 GMT after hitting an all-time high of $2,670.43 earlier.