Sensex scales Mount 83K, Nifty closes at record high in late blue-chips rally
Mumbai, Sep 12: Benchmark Sensex hit the historic 83,000 level for the first time on Thursday and the Nifty settled at a lifetime high in a late rally in blue-chip shares, surge in global markets and foreign fund inflows.
A sharp fag-end rally drove the 30-share BSE Sensex to the 83,000 level for the first time. The barometer surged 1,593.03 points or 1.95 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 83,116.19 in the last hour of trade. The index closed at a record high of 82,962.71, up by 1,439.55 points or 1.77 per cent.
The NSE Nifty surged 470.45 points or 1.89 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 25,388.90. The benchmark hit its fresh all-time intra-day high of 25,433.35, a jump of 514.9 points or 2 per cent. Nifty and Sensex opened higher and traded in a range till late afternoon trade.
"The bulls took charge towards the end of the day and lifted the indices to a new high, mirroring the bullish global trend. The rate-cut optimism across the globe (ECB & US Fed) has provided a positive impetus to the global market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest gainers.
Nestle emerged as the only laggard from the blue-chip pack.
While the session remained subdued for the most part, strong buying in heavyweight stocks across sectors propelled the indices sharply upward in the final hours, Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.32 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 0.79 per cent.
All indices ended in the positive territory. Metal surged 3.05 per cent, telecommunication (2.61 per cent), power (2.02 per cent), auto (1.99 per cent), utilities (1.93 per cent) and commodities (1.85 per cent).
A total of 2,335 stocks advanced while 1,612 declined and 122 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Also, 278 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 36 declined to their 52-week lows.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled with significant gains while Shanghai ended marginally lower.
European markets were trading higher. Wall Street ended with sharp gains on Wednesday.
"Latest US inflation numbers are mildly positive for markets. August CPI inflation coming at 0.2 per cent has brought down the 12-month inflation to 2.5 per cent from 2.9 per cent earlier.
"This paves the way for a rate cut by the Fed in September. But since core inflation continues to remain high at 3.2 per cent the Fed is likely to be cautious and refrain from a 50 bps rate cut, finally settling for a 25 bps rate cut," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,755 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
FIIs turning buyers in the cash market during the last three days is another indication that the market will continue to be resilient, Vijayakumar added.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.39 per cent to USD 71.59 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark dropped 398.13 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at 81,523.16 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty declined 122.65 points or 0.49 per cent to 24,918.45.
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Cong says LoPs not invited to Putin banquet, takes swipe at Tharoor for accepting invite
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have not been invited to the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and took a swipe at its own MP Shashi Tharoor for accepting the invite.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight's official dinner in honour of President Putin. The two LoPs have not been invited."
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
"There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government," he told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.
Asked about party MP Tharoor getting invited to the banquet and accepting the invitation, Khera said, "Ask Mr. Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable and those who accept such an invite is also questionable," Khera said.
"We would have listened to our voice of conscience," he added.
Earlier, Tharoor said there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited but that practice seems to have stopped from some years.
"It has been resumed ...I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go," the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs said.
On the LoPs reportedly not getting an invite, Tharoor said, "I don't know on what basis invitations were sent. I think the custom that usually used to be followed was for a wide representation. Certainly, I remember in the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs, (but) various other cross section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression."
"I dont know the basis (of invitation), this is all done by the government, by the protocol by the Rashtrapati Bhawan, what do I know. All I can say I have honoured to have been invited. Of course I will go," Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Gandhi on Thursday had alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks had come hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
Gandhi had said it is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following this norm.
"Normally the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time, Manmohan Singh ji's time, it has been a tradition but what happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come and when I go abroad, the government suggests to them to not meet the LoP," Gandhi had told reporters in Parliament House complex.
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