Sensex, Nifty kicked off the first trading week of the new year by scaling to record highs in early trade. (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Equity indices opened higher on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex breaching the 48,000-mark for the first time ever, after the government gave emergency use approvals to two coronavirus vaccines, lifting investor sentiments.
The 30-share BSE index scaled an intra-day high of 48,168 in early trade; while the broader NSE Nifty was trading near 14,100.
Top gainers in the sensex pack included ONGC, TCS, SBI, Infosys, IndusInd Bank and Hindustan Unilever with their shares up as much as 1.56 per cent.
While Reliance and Asian Paints were the only stocks that were trading in red.
The past week saw both sensex and Nifty hitting record levels on a daily basis, buoyed by positive global trends and news around rollout of coronavirus vaccination.
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday approved for emergency use two coronavirus vaccines – one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech.
The country, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world, is expected to start a massive immunisation program within about a week.
“Among the key events, earnings season starts this week with IT major TCS results scheduled on January 8. On the economic front, participants will be eyeing the PMI manufacturing and services data. The overwhelming foreign fund inflow is helping markets to inch higher,” Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking Ltd told news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers for the third month in a row by investing Rs 68,558 crore in markets. For the equity segment, this is the highest quantum of money invested ever since the FPI data has been made available by the NSDL.
As per data, overseas investors put in a net Rs 62,016 crore into equities and Rs 6,542 crore into the debt in December 2020.
(With agency inputs)
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