Telecom and auto stocks drive markets to fresh lifetime peaks
Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty vaulted to fresh lifetime peaks on Wednesday, boosted by telecom and auto stocks which saw brisk buying after the government announced packages for the sectors.
Investors have gained Rs 3,35,770.71 crore in two days of market rally, with the Sensex scaling its fresh lifetime peak on Wednesday
Rising for the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 476.11 points or 0.82 per cent to close at its new all-time high of 58,723.20. It touched an intra-day record of 58,777.06.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 139.45 points or 0.80 per cent to its fresh closing record of 17,519.45. During the session, it touched an all-time peak of 17,532.70.
NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 7.16 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel at 4.53 per cent.
HCL Tech, Titan, SBI, PowerGrid, TCS and IndusInd Bank also notched up gains.
On the other hand, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Nestle India, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank were among the laggards, shedding up to 0.38 per cent.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route.
The Cabinet also approved a Rs 26,058 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the auto, auto-components and drone industry to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities.
All BSE sectoral indices closed in the green, led by telecom (3.45 per cent), utilities (2.29 per cent), power (2.01 per cent), teck (1.81 per cent), and consumer durables (1.62 per cent). In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap gauges advanced up to 0.86 per cent.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude spurted 1.05 per cent to USD 74.37 per barrel.
The rupee closed 18 paise higher at 73.50 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking sustained foreign fund inflows.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,649.60 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.
