The National Stock Exchange benchmark – Nifty 50 index scaled new all-time high for third day in a row on Monday as the country saw the lowest daily rise in Covid cases in 50 days with 1.52 lakh fresh infections. The country has reported 3.29 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke; 3,218 deaths have been reported since yesterday. The Nifty 50 index climbed as much as 171 points to hit an all-time high of 15,606 and the 30-share Sensex rose as much as 590 points.
The Nifty 50 index advanced 147 point or 0.95 per cent to close at record high of 15,583 and Sensex rose 515 points to close at 51,937.
The country was set to announce GDP data at 5:30 pm, with economists saying economic growth likely picked up in the January-March quarter, the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year, but expressed pessimism about the period after a harsh second wave of COVID-19 hit the country last month.
Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were among the top movers in the Sensex.
Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index’s over 2 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Private Bank and Realty indexes also rose over 1 per cent.
On the other hand, Nifty, Media, Auto and PSU Bank indices ended lower.
Mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.2 per cent.
JSW Steel was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3.25 per cent to close at Rs 712. ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy’s Labs, ITC, Hindalco, Divi’s Labs and NTPC also rose 1.5-3 per cent.
On the flipside, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, HDFC Life, Indian Oil, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and SBI Life were among the laggards.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,744 shares ended higher while 1,492 closed lower on the BSE.