Markets end at fresh all-time highs for 5th session; Sensex at 46,890

New Delhi: Markets closed at fresh all-time highs for the fifth session on the trot on Thursday amidst positive global trends.

After touching its lifetime intra-day high of 46,992.57, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 223.88 points or 0.48 per cent up at 46,890.34 -- its new closing record. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 58 points or 0.42 per cent to a new closing high of 13,740.70. It hit a lifetime peak of 13,773.25 during the day.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were HDFC, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Ultrachem, Powergrid, TCS, Tech Mahindra, LT, Kotak Bank, RIL, and Bajaj Finance, rising upto 2.92 percent. On the other hand, major losers were ONGC, Maruti, HUL, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, SBI, HCL Tech, ITC, Infosys, ICICI Bank and NTPC, falling upto 1.55 percent.

Sector-wise, BSE finance, capital goods, realty, bankex, industrials, energy and healthcare indices rose up to 1.01 per cent, while metal, oil and gas, utilities, FMCG and auto lost as much as 1.42 per cent. In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 0.23 per cent.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4% to an all-time high. Japan`s Nikkei rose 0.3% to sit just shy of a 29-year peak. Brent crude oil futures, a proxy for global energy consumption and growth, rose nearly 1% to $51.54 a barrel, the highest level since early March - before over-production fears and virus worries pushed oil prices off a cliff, a Reuters report said.

The rupee ended just 1 paisa lower at 73.59 against the US dollar.

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Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,981.77 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

With Agency Inputs