‘Sharp recovery in past two days attributed to revival in FIIs flows’; active Covid cases in India rise to 3,99,778
Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points in early trade to scale the 58,000-level for the first time on Friday, led by gains in index majors Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank amid a positive trend in global markets and sustained foreign fund inflows.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty too crossed the 17,300-mark in the opening session.
The 30-share Sensex was trading 250.75 points or 0.43 per cent up at its lifetime high of 58,103.29, and Nifty advanced 67.65 points or 0.39 per cent to record 17,301.80 in initial deals.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, SBI, NTPC and IndusInd Bank.
On the other hand, HCL Tech, HUL, M&M, Tech Mahindra and TCS were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the BSE index rallied 514.33 points or 0.90 per cent to finish at its fresh all-time high of 57,852.54, and surged 157.90 points or 0.92 per cent to record 17,234.15.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 348.52 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.
According to Binod Modi, Head of Strategy at Reliance Securities, a sharp recovery in the market in the last couple of days is mainly attributed to revival in FIIs flows following dovish commentary from the Fed chairman in Jackson Hole Symposium last week and sustained domestic flows.
"High frequency key economic indicators for August 2021, in the form of GST collection, railway freight, auto sales volume despite semiconductor issues, power consumption, import-export data and fuel volumes indicate a sustained economic recovery on YoY comparison," he noted.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country has increased to 3,99,778. A single-day rise of 45,352 new infections and 366 fatalities has pushed India's tally of cases to 3,29,03,289 and death toll to 4,39,895.
In Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were positive.
US equities also ended with gains in the overnight session.