Sensex, Nifty scale new highs on New Year's Day

Among major Sensex gainers, ITC rose the most by 2.32%

The BSE Sensex soared to record highs while the NSE Nifty closed above the 14,000-mark for the first time on Friday as markets continued their record run in the new year amid robust buying in IT, auto and FMCG stocks.

Extending its record-setting streak for the fifth day, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 117.65 points or 0.25% to close at a fresh lifetime high of 47,868.98.

This is the eighth consecutive day of gains for the barometer and it has climbed by around 5% since December 22.

The broader Nifty closed at an all-time high of 14,018.50, showing gains of 36.75 points or 0.26% over its previous close.

Intra-day, the Nifty touched a record high of 14,049.85 while Sensex scaled a new peak of 47,980.36.

Among major Sensex gainers, ITC rose the most by 2.32%, followed by TCS, M&M and SBI.

TCS rose by 2.02% after the IT major said its board will meet on January 8 to approve financial results and a proposal for declaring the third interim dividend to shareholders.

Among other IT stocks, Tech Mahindra rose 0.23%, Infosys by 0.36% and HCL Tech by 0.43%. Dr Reddy’s, L&T, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Nestle and Ultratech Cement also advanced.

Auto stocks advanced on better sales numbers for December month. Market leader Maruti, which posted a 20% increase in vehicle sales in December, rose by 0.53% while Bajaj Auto closed up by 1.03%.

Mahindra & Mahindra rose by 1.62% even as it posted a 10.3% decline in total sales at 35,187 units in December 2020. The company also announced its decision to scrap a previously announced automotive joint venture with Ford citing fundamental changes in global economic conditions.

Banking giant ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, however dropped 1.36% and 0.83% respectively due to profit booking.

Meanwhile, GST collections touched a record high of over ₹ 1.15 lakh crore in December, reflecting festive demand and reflating economy.

The Sensex and Nifty finished the year 2020 with overall gains of around 15%. The Sensex gained 15.7% while the Nifty jumped 14.9% in the year.

FPIs have been a major driver of the rally in Indian stock markets. According to exchange data, FPIs bought shares worth ₹ 1,135.59 crore on a net basis on Thursday.

US markets also closed the pandemic-hit year at record highs on Thursday.

The S&P 500 index finished with a gain of 16.3% for the year, the Nasdaq composite soared 43.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7.2%.

Most of the global markets were closed on Friday for the New Year’s holiday.

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