Sensex, Nifty touch fresh record high levels in early trade

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| Photo Credit: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Sensex and Nifty continued their record-breaking rally on July 18, reaching new all-time high levels in early trade, amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in banking counters.

A positive trend in the U.S. markets on Monday also contributed to the domestic benchmark indices optimism.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 395.57 points to reach its record intra-day peak of 66,985.50. The NSE Nifty climbed 99.8 points to hit its all-time high of 19,811.25.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti, and Asian Paints were among the biggest gainers.

Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo quoted in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower.

The U.S. markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs ₹73 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

“The global market construct continues to be favourable for the bulls. The declining dollar and the capital flows to emerging markets that it triggers can impart resilience to the market. However, high valuations and possible profit-booking can restrain the rally. A healthy consolidation can be the near-term trend,” said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark, Brent crude, climbed 0.38% to $78.80 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had jumped 529.03 points or 0.80% to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,589.93 on Monday. The Nifty went up by 146.95 points or 0.75% to end at a record high of 19,711.45.