Sensex, Nifty scale fresh peaks; bank, IT stocks shine

MUMBAI: Rallying for the 10th straight session, equity benchmark Sensex jumped 261 points to end at a fresh record on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, Axis Bank and TCS.

Despite opening on a negative note, the 30-share BSE index pared all losses and staged a smart recovery to end 260.98 points or 0.54 per cent higher at 48,437.78.

It touched an all-time high of 48,486.24 during the day. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 66.60 points or 0.47 per cent to settle at a new peak of 14,199.50. It scaled a record intra-day high of 14,215.60.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 6 per cent, followed by HDFC, IndusInd Bank, TCS, Asian Paints, Titan, HCL Tech and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, ONGC, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, M&M and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.

"Domestic equities saw a brisk recovery from today's low mainly led by sharp rebound in banking and IT stocks," said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Continued improvement in COVID-19 recovery rates along with likely commencement of vaccination drive shortly and sustained improvement in key economic data defied weak global markets, he said, adding that IT stocks witnessed strong buying ahead of TCS' Q3 FY21 numbers.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong ended on a positive note, while Tokyo was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in early deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.69 per cent to USD 51.44 per barrel.