Sensex, Nifty edge up to fresh lifetime highs

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty darted up to fresh all-time highs on Thursday as investors lapped up power, IT and banking stocks amid mixed global cues. A strengthening rupee, which surged 19 paise against the US dollar, further lifted sentiments, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 318.05 points or 0.58 per cent to close at its fresh record of 54,843.98. Intra-day, it scaled all-time high of 54,874.10 points. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 82.15 points or 0.26 per cent to its lifetime peak of 16,325.15 points.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 6.22 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Titan, L&T, NTPC and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, M&M, Reliance Industries and SBI were among the laggards, dipping up to 0.67 per cent. Market breadth was positive, with 21 Sensex stocks closing in the green, while 9 suffered losses.

"Market breadth continued to be skewed in favour of the bulls amidst mixed global cues and strong support from IT, power and utility stocks. Chinese jitters over tightening regulatory scrutiny of online insurance companies were outweighed by the slowdown in pace of the US inflation data and rebound in UK GDP numbers. US consumer price inflation stood at 5.4 per cent YoY in July, unchanged from June's data, taking some heat out of concerns over early tapering by the Fed. UK GDP grew by 4.8 per cent QoQ in Q2 as activity and demand rebounded with the easing of Covid restrictions," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services. Binod Modi, head (strategy) at Reliance Securities, said: "IT stocks remained in focus as sustained double-digit revenue growth visibility backed by strong deal wins offer comfort to investors. Additionally, strong buying was seen in midcap and smallcap stocks after persistent selling for last couple of days."