Sensex hit an all-time high of 40,816.38, rallying over 340 points on Wednesday to close at 40,651.54
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index bucked the trend in Asian markets by hitting an all-time high of 40,816.38, rallying over 340 points on Wednesday to close at 40,651.54, a rise of 181.94 or 0.45 per cent, pushed up by sharp gains in Reliance Industries (RIL), which too reached a new peak in the morning session at 1,571.85.
NSE’s Nifty resurged to its 12,000 mark quoting at 12,027.35, but slid below that mark to end the day at 11,989.80 or a rise of 49.70 ponts or 0.42 per cent.
Despite being a globally-linked economy, the markets in India ignored the fate of stocks which went into the red from Australia to Japan, dropping between three-fourths of a per cent to one-fourth over one per cent. The Asian markets tanked after a warning by the US President Donald Trump that failure to get a trade deal with China would call for imposing more tariffs. The Dow Jones Index in the US too plunged on Tuesday after Trump sent out his tweets.
The fluctuating fortunes in the US-China talks have had its impact on global markets, including India, as officials in the two countries trace the possibility of reaching an agreement – varying from the whole gamut of the enthusiastic to the pessimistic. On Tuesday, Indian markets focused on domestic concerns to show that investors would rally around good news, ignoring international issues. Those would be tackled another day.
Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) rallied nearly 4 per cent to hit their lifetime high of Rs 1,571.85, moving closer to the Rs 10 lakh-crore level for market-capitalisation. It closed at 1547.05. The rise came after the company’s telecom arm announced it would raise tariff next week, following Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s decision to do so. Jio said its hikes would be in compliance with the rules.
RIL, now valued at more than $138 billion, compared with the British energy giant BP Plc at $132 billion has broken into the club of top six oil giants, including Saudi’s Aramco. RIL shares have increased at thrice the pace of Sensex after its owner Mukesh Ambani announced plans to cut its debt to zero in 18 months. It may be a long haul to achieve the target, but the markets gave the company a thumbs up after it sold a part of its stake to the Saudi oil giant.
Other gainers on the Sensex included Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Maruti and L&T, Asian Paints. Bharti Airtel which started the day in the green ended it in the red, keeping pace with TCS, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Kotak and SBI.
On Tuesday, public sector banks were the biggest contributors to the rally. Also among factors which contributed to the rise were the settlement of Essar Steel in the bankruptcy proceedings and the divestment intentions of the government.