Sensex Rallies 458 Points To End Above 50K For First Time; Nifty Tops 14,750

Extending its Budget bull run for the third day, the Sensex rallied 458 points to end above the 50,000 mark for the first time ever on Wednesday, led by broad-based gains amid positive cues from global markets.

After touching a record intra-day high of 50,526.39, the 30-share index ended at 50,255.75, up 458.03 points or 0.92 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 142.10 points or 0.97 per cent to its fresh closing record of 14,789.95. It touched an all-time high of 14,868.85 during the day.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, zooming around 8 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, ITC, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints were among the losers.

"Domestic equities continued to remain in the grip of bulls and broader indices made fresh record highs today," said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Optimism created after the announcement of bold measures in the Union Budget continued to attract investors. Favourable global cues also supported the market rally. Notably, market cap of Indian market is just fraction away from surpassing Rs 200 trillion levels, he added.

Growing optimism among investors after bold and pro-growth Budget helped market to rebound sharply in the last three days, he said, adding that the underlying strength of the domestic market remains intact.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a positive note in early deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.36 per cent higher at USD 58.01 per barrel.