Benchmarks climb fresh highs, BSE ends above 54K for 1st time

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks clambered up to fresh lifetime highs on Wednesday, with the Sensex surging past the 54,000-mark for the first time, as stellar earnings whetted risk appetite amid supportive global cues.

Banking and finance stocks saw hectic buying after largest lender SBI reported a 55 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 6,504 crore for the June quarter, helped by a decline in bad loans.

Surging for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 546.41 points or 1.02 per cent to end at its new record of 54,369.77, bettering the previous session's closing high. It scaled its lifetime peak of 54,465.91 during the session.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 128.05 points or 0.79 per cent to its all-time peak of 16,258.80. It touched a lifetime intra-day high of 16,290.20.

HDFC was the top performer in the Sensex pack, surging 4.77 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Titan, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards, dropping up to 2.14 per cent.

However, the market breadth was negative, with 16 Sensex stocks closing in the red, while 14 advanced.

Sectorally, BSE bankex, finance and power indices climbed as much as 2.60 per cent, while telecom, realty and consumer durables nursed losses.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmark, shedding up to 1.06 per cent.

World equities too were boosted by strong corporate results, offsetting concerns over the unabated rise in COVID-19 cases in multiple countries.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended with gains, while Tokyo was in the red.

Equities in Europe were also in the green in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.18 per cent to $72.28 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,116.60 crore, as per

exchange data.