The equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty scaled fresh record highs on Tuesday, tracking positive sentiment in the Asian markets and hefty purchases in frontline bank stocks.
At 1:35 pm, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 541.25 points to an all-time high of 77,882.33. The Nifty gained 130.8 points to a record 23,668.65 during the same time.
The rally among Sensex constituents was spearheaded by major gains in Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. However, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Steel, and Asian Paints remained subdued.
Coming to broader Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong remained an uptrend while Shanghai witnessed a fall. Back home, the US markets closed mixed on Monday.
For the March quarter, just ended, for instance, the Reserve Bank of India posted a current account surplus of USD 5.7 billion, 0.6 per cent of GDP—the first in ten quarters and one that corroborates improved external strength of the country.
"The current account surplus in Q4 FY24 is a positive for the market. It reduces pressure on the rupee and creates an atmosphere for possible inflows from Foreign Institutional Investors, especially with clarity on Federal Reserve rate adjustments," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Brent crude, oil benchmark of the global economy, fell 0.06% to close at USD 85.96 per barrel.
Data from the exchange showed foreign institutional investors offloading equities to the tune of Rs 653.97 crore in the stock market yesterday. The BSE benchmark zoomed 131.18 points to settle at 77,341.08 and Nifty closed at 23,537.85, up by 36.75 points, or 0.16%.
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