Sensex jumps over 200 points to new high; Nifty tops 14,600

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points to scale a fresh intra-day peak in early trade on Wednesday, led by gains in ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries amid sustained foreign fund inflow.

After touching a life-time high of 49,776.29 in early session, the 30-share BSE index was trading 201.65 points or 0.41 per cent higher at 49,718.76.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 70.55 points or 0.48 per cent to 14,634 in opening deals.

Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 4 per cent, followed by ONGC, SBI, ICICI Bank, M&M, NTPC, L&T and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Titan, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy’s, TCS and HCL Tech were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex ended 247.79 points or 0.50 per cent higher at 49,517.11, and Nifty advanced 78.70 points or 0.54 per cent to a fresh closing peak of 14,563.45

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹571.47 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities continue to look firm and resilient. Contraction in IIP data indicates more measures by the Finance Minister in the Budget to stimulate economic activities.

Similarly, better than anticipated softening in CPI data for December 2020 negates the looming concerns over low interest rate scenarios, he stated.

"We still believe that a sharp rebound in high frequency key economic data for December 2020 indicates demand revival, which bodes well for the markets. Further, 3QFY21 corporate earnings are progressing well and are expected to sustain growth, which along with weak dollar and soft monetary policy of global bankers should continue to attract FPIs into domestic equities," he added.

US equities ended slightly higher as investors remained hopeful about a large fiscal stimulus to be announced from the Biden administration.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were in the positive territory.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.41 per cent higher at USD 57.38 per barrel.