Sensex surges to all-time record high of 52,141.67; Nifty rises by 149.60 points

The Sensex rose to an all-time high of 52,141.67 points while the Nifty touched a lifetime high of 15,321.20 points in intraday trade today. The benchmark equity indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading over 1 per cent higher in the morning trade led by a rise in financial stocks and broad-based gains across sectors. At 10.58am, the Sensex was trading at 52,117,10, rising 572.80 points while Nifty was up 149.60 points at 15,312.90. In non-financial stocks, Infosys and Reliance Industries also headed higher by up to half a per cent each on the bourses. ONGC, Tech Mahindra and M&M shed around half a percent each on the BSE. As per a report in The Indian Express report, Asian shares started off the week off with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index briefly topping 30,000 for the first time since August 1990. However, by midday, it has fallen back below the level, but was still up at 1.3 percent at 29,914.02. Furthermore, shares rose in India, South Korea and Australia. On the economy front, the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose sharply to 2.03 per cent in January compared with 1.22 per cent in December on the back of higher fuel prices. The government, on its part, revised the WPI inflation for December to 2.29 percent from the earlier 2.76 percent. According to a report in PTI, crude oil prices rose by Rs 85 to Rs 4,4410 per barrel on Monday. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for February delivery traded higher by Rs 85 at Rs 4,410 per barrel in 3,826 lots. The Indian market rose in sync with its top global peers that traded with healthy gains amidst the global rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, raising hopes of a faster economic recovery. Furthermore strong gains in banking and financial heavyweights boosted the market benchmarks with ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank were the top contributors to the rally in Sensex.