The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty soared to hit new all-time highs of 27,493.59 and 8,214.65 points, respectively, in opening trade on October 31 on sustained fund inflows, driven by a slew of economic reforms announced by the government amidst optimism over strong corporate earnings.
Rising for the fourth straight day, the 30-share index flared up by 147.26 points, or 0.53 per cent, to hit a new peak of 27,493.59. The gauge had gained 593.43 points in previous three sessions to close at record-high yesterday at 27,346.33 in 30 October session. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 27,390.60 in the previous session.
All the sectoral indices, led by IT, capital goods and healthcare, were trading in positive zone with gains up to 1.49 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty crossed the 8,200-mark for the first instance to record its lifetime high of 8,214.65 by rising 45.45 points, or 0.55 per cent. It had touched an intra-day high of 8,181.55 in 30 October’s trade.
Brokers said continued buying by foreign funds as well as retail investors, triggered by a series of economic reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi-led government and strong earnings by blue-chip companies, lifted the key indices to new highs. Stocks of Maruti Suzuki climbed 0.40 per cent to Rs 3,255 after the company reported a 28.69 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 862.54 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014.
Besides, a firming trend in the global markets on robust US economic data also boosted sentiment, they said. Among the 30-Sensex stocks — Infosys, Dr Reddy, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, L&T, M&M, ONGC, RIL and SBI — were the top performers during initial trade. Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.68 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.89 per cent in early trade on October 31. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.30 per cent higher in 30 October’s trade.
–PTI