Nifty Surpasses 16,000-Mark For First Time, Sensex Rallies Over 500 Points
The National Stock Exchange benchmark - Nifty 50 index - moved above its important psychological level of 16,000 for the first time and BSE's 30-share Sensex rallied over 500 points to hit a record high of 53,486.43 as economic indicators pointed at faster pace of economic revival. The country's factory activity bounced back last month and GST collections jumped 33 per cent to Rs 1.16 lakh crore in July, indicating demand revival in an economy hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
As of 12:51 pm, the Sensex was up 531 points at 53,482 and Nifty 50 index climbed 141 points to 16,025.
"Pace of vaccination is giving hopes that the economy can open up faster than anticipated. Tax efficiency has improved drastically, fuel sales have been good in July despite high prices and corporate results have also been surprising the market which is helping the markets scale new highs," AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital told NDTV.
HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever were among the top movers in the equity benchmarks.
Buying was visible across sectors as nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher, led by the Nifty Pharma and FMCG indexes' over 1 per cent gain.
IT, Financial Services, Realty and Auto shares were also witnessing buying interest.
On the other hand, mild selling pressure was seen in metal and media shares.
Mid- and small-cap shares were witnessing profit booking as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices came off intraday highs.
Bharti Airtel was among the top Nifty gainers ahead of its June quarter earnings due today. HDFC Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Britannia Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra also rose between 1-2 per cent
On the flip side, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, Shree Cements, Bajaj Auto, UPL, Tata Steel, ONGC, SBI Life and NTPC were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,762 shares were advancing while 1,367 were declining on the BSE.
