Benchmark indices rally for eighth day in record-making spree

Benchmark indices rallied for the eighth day running on Thursday, ending at record closing highs, amid firm trends in the global market and continuous foreign fund inflows.

Positive purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data and buying in IT counters have added to the momentum.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 184.54 points or 0.29% to settle at 63,284.19, its record closing high. During the day, it rallied 483.42 points or 0.76% to 63,583.07, its lifetime intra-day peak.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 54.15 points or 0.29% to end at 18,812.50, a record closing high.

Among the Sensex stocks, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech

Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Larsen & Toubro were the major winners.

ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards.

According to a monthly survey released on Thursday,

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India manufacturing PMI was 55.7 in November, up from 55.3 in October, signalling the strongest improvement in operating conditions in three months.

Experts say that US Federal Reserve’s stance hinting at moderated pace of rate hike also boosted the sentiment.

“Fed chief Jerome Powell’s observation that ‘it makes sense to moderate the pace of rate hikes’ has come as a shot in the arm for the bulls to take the ongoing rally forward,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial

Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 0.63% and midcap index climbed 0.62%. Among sectoral indices, IT jumped 2.03%, realty (1.94%), teck (1.58%, commodities (1.24%) and industrials (0.74%).

Power, oil & gas, energy and fast-moving consumer goods were among the laggards.

“Markets extended gains and scaled fresh highs again, but the recent upsurge failed to gather steam today. Undertone remains bullish, but the focus will now shift to next week’s credit policy announcement,” said Shrikant chouhan, head of equity research (retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly in the green in the afternoon trade.