Market at fresh peak: Sensex skyrockets 958 pts; Nifty tops 17,800

Equity benchmark Sensex zoomed 958 points to end at a fresh lifetime high on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank amid a positive trend in global markets.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points or 1.57 per cent to its new closing peak of 17,822.95. It touched an intra-day record of 17,843.90.

After scaling a new peak of 59,957.25 during the day, the 30-share Sensex settled 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent up at an all-time high of 59,885.36.

Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s, ITC, Nestle and HUL were the laggards.

Domestic equities witnessed sharp recovery with benchmarks Nifty and Sensex both recording fresh all-time highs, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Favourable FOMC meeting outcome and ease of concerns from possible default of Evergrande aided market rally. Financials and Reliance Industries have dominated market rally, followed by metals, IT and auto, he added.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed plans to announce as early as November that it will start to taper its monthly bond purchases, should the job market maintain its steady improvement.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Seoul was in the red. Japanese market was closed for holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.12 per cent to USD 76.10 per barrel.