Sensex, Nifty close at fresh record highs on vaccine booster

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty raced to fresh record highs on Wednesday as gains in financials, auto and IT shares helped markets extend their winning run for the sixth straight session.

After a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed up by 133.14 points or 0.28 percent at a record high of 47,746.22. The barometer scaled its all-time intra-day high of 47,807.85.

The broad-based NSE Nifty rose by 49.35 points or 0.35 percent to finish at its lifetime high of 13,981.95. It touched all-time peak of 13,997 in intra-day trade.

Among major Sensex movers, Ultratech Cement rose over 4 percent, Bajaj Finance by 2.63 percent and Maruti by 2 percent.

Mahindra and Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Asian Paints also finished in the green.

After opening strong, the stock indices gave up gains due to profit booking by investors. However, positive trends in the European stocks helped the indices rebound and end at record levels.

European stocks advanced on Wednesday as the UK approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Britain has authorized use of a second COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first country to greenlight an easy-to-handle shot that its developers hope will become the "vaccine for the world".

Asian shares were mixed after a lackluster day on Wall Street. Benchmarks fell in Tokyo and Sydney but rallied in Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 percent, a day after it surged more than 2 percent to its highest level in more than 30 years. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 percent.

On the other hand, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.6 percent, the Shanghai Composite index advanced 1 percent while South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.9 percent.