Mumbai: Indian benchmark indices reached fresh record highs on Wednesday, driven by gains in banking and media stocks.
Sensex closed at 78,572.43, up 518.91 points and Nifty 120.60 points high closing at 23,868.80 after the close of the market on June 26.
The BSE Sensex soared to an all-time high of 78,759.40, closing at 78,674.25 with an increase of 620.72 points or 0.80 per cent.
Concurrently, the NSE Nifty 50 climbed 147.50 points or 0.62 per cent to settle at 23,868.80, having hit a record high of 23,889.90 during the session.
Leading the gains on the NSE Nifty 50 were Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, and Grasim. Conversely, Apollo Hospitals, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, and Hindalco Industries emerged as the top laggards.
Reliance Industries set a new record high, while Bharti Airtel surged over 3 per cent, marking significant large-cap gains on the major indices.
The broader markets displayed mixed performance with the Nifty SmallCap rising by 0.11 per cent and the MidCap slightly declining by 0.05 per cent. Sector-wise, the Nifty Media rose by 1.7 per cent, Nifty Bank by 0.5 per cent, and Nifty FMCG by 0.4 per cent. The Metal sector remained the top loser, dropping over 1.39 per cent.
Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Media, Pharma, PSU Banks, Private Banks and Oil and Gas remains in the green territory. The stock of sectors such as Consumer durables, Midsmall healthcare,Realty, Metal and IT ended in the green.
Foreign investors made a substantial move by buying Indian equities, while domestic investors showed differing market sentiment by selling shares.
"Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sustained their buying streak for the 12th consecutive session, acquiring USD 141 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Since June 7, FPIs have invested a total of USD 3.7 billion in Indian equities, buoyed by reduced policy uncertainty. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have also been active, purchasing USD 1.6 billion worth of shares in the same period," Varun Aggarwal MD, Profit Idea.
"Gold and silver prices are declining due to the Federal Reserve's aggressive stance on maintaining higher interest rates, which increases US Treasury bond yields and limits precious metal gains. However, geopolitical tensions between Israel and Lebanon are supporting safe-haven demand," he added.
Gold is trading between Rs 71,000 and Rs 71,800, awaiting a breakout to establish a new trend.
—ANI