Indian Indices Climb New Record Highs; IT, Banks Lead

Indian equity benchmarks continued their record run as Sensex jumped over 220 points in early trade on Tuesday, gains boosted by HDFC twins, Infosys, TCS and Reliance.

The 30-share BSE index settled at 52,772.20 which is 220.67 points or 0.42 per cent higher. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 62.35 points or 0.39 per cent to 15,874.20.

All the Sensex constituents were trading with gains in morning trade.

Asian Paints was the top gainer in the pack, surging around 1.5 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ONGC, Bajaj Finserv, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, and Kotak Bank.

In the previous session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 76.77 points or 0.15 per cent higher at its new closing peak of 52,551.53. The NSE Nifty rose 12.50 points or 0.08 per cent to a record 15,811.85.

On the macro-economic data front, rising prices of edible oils and protein-rich items pushed the retail inflation to a six-month high of 6.3 per cent in May, breaching the comfort level of the Reserve Bank and thus rendering reduction in interest rates a difficult proposition in the near term.

The wholesale price-based inflation accelerated to a record 12.94 per cent in May, on account of rising prices of crude oil, manufactured goods, and a low base of last year. In May last year, WPI inflation was (-) 3.37 per cent and in April 2021, WPI inflation hit double-digit at 10.49 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 503.51 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.

The Indian rupee gained 13 paise to 73.16 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday tracking positive domestic equities.

At 60,471, India logs the lowest single-day Covid cases after 75 days. The death toll climbed to 3,77,031 with 2,726 fresh deaths. 

Asia stocks traded mixed, bourses in Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red.

US equities finished mixed in the previous session.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.25 per cent higher at $73.04 per barrel.