Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex defied gravity for the 10th straight session to close at a fresh lifetime high on Tuesday as robust buying in financial and IT stocks offset lacklustre global cues.
Persistent foreign fund inflows supported the benchmarks, though a weakening rupee capped the gains, traders said.
Despite opening on a negative note, the 30-share BSE index pared all losses and staged a smart recovery to end 260.98 points or 0.54 per cent higher at 48,437.78. It touched an all-time high of 48,486.24 during the day. The Sensex has closed at record highs for seven sessions on the trot.
Total market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE zoomed to a record high of Rs 192.87 lakh crore on Tuesday helped by continuous rally in the equity market. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms have jumped a whopping Rs 14,08,195.89 crore to a record Rs 1,92,87,518.94 crore ($2.6 trillion) in 10 trading sessions.
Equity investors grew richer by Rs 32.49 lakh crore in 2020 helped by massive returns in the equity market which had a roller coaster ride during the year hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The broader NSE Nifty rose 66.60 points or 0.47 per cent to settle at a new peak of 14,199.50. It scaled a record intra-day high of 14,215.60.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 6.31 per cent, followed by HDFC, IndusInd Bank, TCS, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Titan and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, ONGC, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, M&M and Reliance Industries were among the laggards, tumbling up to 2.06 per cent.
BSE bankex, finance, IT, teck, consumer durables and capital goods indices rose up to 1.90 per cent, while metal, energy, realty, oil and gas, basic materials and auto closed lower.
Global markets were mixed after Britain announced a fresh nationwide coronavirus lockdown, while Wall Street wilted under selling pressure in the overnight session.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong ended on a positive note, while Tokyo was in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading mixed in early deals.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.69 per cent to $51.44 per barrel. The rupee depreciated by 15 paise to finish at 73.17 against the US dollar.