Sensex, Nifty soar to lifetime highs as Samvat 2077 gets off to bright start
Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks surged to lifetime highs on Saturday as investors built up fresh positions in the special Muhurat trading session to mark the beginning of Hindu Samvat year 2077.
The 30-share BSE Sensex soared 194.98 points or 0.45 percent to close at a record 43,637.98. Intra-day, it hit its all-time high of 43,830.93.
On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 60.30 points, or 0.47 percent, to finish at its lifetime high of 12,780.25. It touched an intra-day record of 12,828.70 during the session.
In the Sensex kitty, prominent gainers were Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, and ONGC, spurting up to 1.17 percent.
Only four constituents closed in the red -- PowerGrid, Titan, UltraTech Cement, and Bajaj Finance, which shed up to 0.32 percent.
Brokers said buying activity gathered momentum as investors opened their new books on the first session of Samvat 2077.
All BSE sectoral indices finished in the green, led by oil and gas, telecom, industrials, realty, tech, and energy.
A similar trend was seen in the broader markets, with the BSE small-cap index jumping 0.84 percent and the mid-cap gauge gaining 0.62 percent.
Domestic markets conduct a special one-hour Muhurat trading session on Diwali every year to mark the beginning of the traditional Hindu calendar year, called 'Vikram Samvat'.
In the previous Samvat 2076, the BSE Sensex gained 4,384.94 points or 11.22 percent, while the Nifty rallied 1,136.05 points or 9.80 percent.
The BSE and NSE will remain closed on Monday (November 16) on the occasion of 'Diwali Balipratipada'.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,935.92 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold to the tune of Rs 2,462.42 crore, as per provisional exchange data.
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Delhi HC seeks Centre's stand on 'disappearance' of 70,000-kg heroin from seizure records
New Delhi, May 2: The Delhi High Court has sought the Centre's stand on a plea alleging disappearance of 70,772.48 kg of heroin from seizure records between 2018 and 2020.
Justice Subramonium Prasad issued a notice on a petition filed by B R Aravindakshan and asked the Centre to file its response within four weeks.
The petitioner, a journalist, has claimed that there is a huge discrepancy between the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report and the data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding seizure of drugs in the country from 2018 to 2020.
"He (petitioner) states that cumulatively, 70,772.48 kg of heroin has
disappeared from seizure records between 2018 and 2020. Issue notice. Let replies be filed within four weeks," the court said in its order passed on Wednesday.
The petitioner has said "the alarming disappearance" of more than 70,000 kg of heroin, valued at approximately Rs 5 lakh crore in the international market, raises concerns of national security, social stability and economic repercussions.
The plea says the magnitude of the "discrepancy" is so large that if not sorted promptly, it may result in chaos in the society, but no action has been taken on the issue.
"On 12.09.2022, the petitioner filed a complaint before the MHA representing the data relating to the mismatch of data provided by NCRB and the data provided by Hon'ble Nityanand Rai, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs, concerning seizure of heroin during the year 2018 and 2020.
"The petitioner insisted that 70,772.54 kg heroin worth Rs 5 lakh crore seized in India has been missing, thus insisting the ministry that an immediate investigation should be ordered for the safety and welfare of the country," the petition says.
The petitioner has sought several directions with respect to the alleged mismatch, including a direction to the MHA to order an investigation in a stipulated time period.
The matter would be heard next on September 9.
