Sensex hits record high, surges over 250 points; Nifty breaches 11,500 mark; Rupee recovers

Mumbai: Continuing its rally, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 250 points to hit a fresh record high in early trade, and NSE Nifty went past the 11,500-mark for the first time today on widespread gains in capital goods, metal, realty and banking scrips amid firm Asian cues.

The Sensex advanced by 263.06 points, or 0.69 percent, to hit a new high of 38,210.94, breaking its previous record of 38,076.23 reached on 9 August.

The gauge had gained 284.32 points in the previous session on Friday. The NSE Nifty too breached the 11,500 mark, by surging 46.50 points, or 0.40 percent, to 11,517.25, surging past its previous (intra-day) high of 11,495.20 on 9 August. Besides, fresh inflows by foreign funds and persistent buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and rupee recovery also boosted investor sentiment here, brokers said. The market rally was powered by strong gains in capital gods, metal, realty, infrastructure, PSU, oil and gas, healthcare, auto and banking stocks, rising up to 2.78 percent. Major gainers that helped key indices scale new highs include L&T, ONGC, Yes Bank, Coal India, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Wipro, Vedanta, SBI, RIL, HUL, HDFC Ltd, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank, rising up to 4.17 percent. Meanwhile, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ITC, and TCS were trading in the red, falling up to 2 percent. [caption id=“attachment_4428589” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 151.89 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 147.31 crore on Friday, provisional data showed. Traders said positive cues from other Asian markets, tracking gains on the Wall Street fuelled by hopes for an easing of the trade row between the China and the US, influenced sentiments here. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.38 percent, while Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.15 percent in their early deals. Japan’s Nikkei, however, fell 0.33 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.43 percent higher on Friday’s trade. Rupee recovers 38 paise against dollar The rupee today recovered from its all-time low by rising 38 paise to 69.77 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on fresh selling of the greenback by exporters and banks ahead of US-China trade talks this week. Besides, the dollar weakened against other currencies overseas as demand for the safe-currency receded on optimism over a reduction in US-China trade tensions, helping the domestic currency rebound, forex dealers said. A higher opening in the equity market also supported the rupee’s recovery, they said.

The Indian currency had collapsed to a historic intra-day trading low of 70.40 before closing at fresh lifetime low of 70.15 per dollar on Thursday, down by 26 paise or 0.37 percent.

The forex market was shut on Friday on account of Parsi New Year. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought stocks worth a net of Rs 147.31 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) accumulated stocks worth a net of Rs 151.89 crore on Friday.