Record high: Sensex gains over 500 points, Nifty hits 8700

Indian equity markets rose to a record high on Tuesday as metals stocks advanced after China’s economic growth data came in slightly better than expected, while blue chips were underpinned by widespread confidence about the domestic economy. While the BSE Sensex provisionally ended up 502.72 points with 21 components in the green at 28784.67, the NSE Nifty closed 144 points higher at 8695. BSE power and consumer durables indexes ended marginally in the red. Metals stocks were the star performers of the day with the BSE metals sub-index gaining 3 percent. [caption id=“attachment_2029789” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP image[/caption] HDFC and Sesa Sterlite shares jumped more than 5 percent, Tata Steel and Axis Bank rose over 4 percent, Tata Motors and ITC were up more than 3 percent. On the losing side, GAIL fell 2 percent, Tata Power was down 1.5 percent, Maruti shed 0.7 percent. The rupee was trading at 61.76 per dollar vs previous close of 61.71. The Reserve Bank of India’s surprise rate cut on Thursday has sparked a rally in markets, and investors are hopeful Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will follow up with wide-ranging reforms when it unveils its fiscal budget next month. That has investors primed for India to outperform most other emerging markets this year, repeating a similar performance to the 29.9 percent gain by the BSE Sensex last year, despite lingering uncertainty about the global economy, including in the deflation-hit euro zone. “India’s growth outlook remains insulated and relatively better than its rivals,” said U.R. Bhat, managing director at Dalton Capital, a unit of British-based investment management firm Dalton Strategic Partnership LLP. With inputs from Reuters