Mumbai: The market maintained its bullish momentum on Thursday morning, with the Sensex and Nifty-50 scaling fresh record highs. The Sensex crossed its lifetime peak of 85,978.25 and surged past the 86,000 mark for the first time, touching a new all-time high of 86,055. The Nifty-50 also hit a record 26,310 after breaching its previous high of 26,277.
Strong foreign investor inflows and optimism over potential rate cuts continued to support market sentiment. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers to the tune of ₹4,778.03 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were also net buyers, investing ₹6,247.93 crore, according to provisional stock exchange data.
From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest gainers.
However, Eternal, UltraTech Cement, Trent and State Bank of India were among the laggards.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading in positive territory.
US markets ended higher on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,778.03 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also purchased stocks worth Rs 6,247.93 crore in the previous trade.
"Expectation of a rate cut by the Fed and a possible Russia-Ukraine peace accord have improved sentiments for equity markets globally," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.57 per cent to USD 62.77 per barrel.
"Global equity markets have extended their gains, buoyed by growing expectations of interest-rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Major US indices - including the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq - posted another session of solid advances as softer Treasury yields and renewed policy optimism strengthened risk appetite. This upbeat sentiment has carried into today's global trade, with Asian markets opening higher," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 1,022.50 points or 1.21 per cent to settle at 85,609.51. The Nifty zoomed 320.50 points or 1.24 per cent to end at 26,205.30.
