IT stocks boost Nifty 50 to a record high, tops 25,100. Here's why

NSE Nifty 50 reached an all-time high of 25,114.05, led by gains in IT stocks amid US rate cut expectations.

NSE Nifty 50 recovered from a flat start to hit record highs on Wednesday, boosted by extended gains in information technology stocks as traders look forward to rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.

Stock market today: A bird flies past a screen displaying the Sensex results on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai.(Reuters)

The benchmark index rose as much as 0.38% to an all-time high of 25,114.05. The 50-stock index traded up 0.3% as of 12:07 p.m. IST. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.28% to 81,945.08, just shy of record high levels hit on August 1.

"We are getting a lot of retail inflows, domestic institutional inflows, money from the portfolio management services (PMS) and alternative investment funds (AIF), this surplus liquidity is keeping the overall momentum positive," said Amit Kumar Gupta, founder of Fintrekk Capital.

Eight of the 13 major sectors logged gains, with IT stocks, which have the second-highest weightage, up about 2.35% to a record high.

IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S. and could benefit from a rate cut which could support growth in the world's largest economy.

The IT index has gained about 4% this week, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled rate easing in its September meeting.

Financials, which have the most weightage, shed 0.2%.

Foreign investors (FII) remained net buyers for a fourth session in a row on Tuesday. Domestic investors (DII) were net sellers, but only after having bought $5.8 billion of shares in the previous 16 sessions, boosting liquidity.

The U.S. inflation reading due on Friday will provide hints on the rate easing trajectory, according to analysts.

The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose 0.4% and 0.2%, on the day, respectively.

LTIMindtree rose 6.2%, the most among IT stocks and the on the Nifty 50, after Kotak Institutional Equities upgraded the stock to "add" from "reduce".