Sensex rallies over 300 pts to scale fresh peak in opening session; Nifty tops 13,100

Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 300 points in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank amid largely positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows.

After touching a lifetime high of 44,825.37 in the opening session, the 30-share BSE index was trading 242.76 points or 0.55 per cent higher at 44,765.78.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched a record intra-day peak of 13,145.85, before trading 76.25 points or 0.58 per cent up at 13,131.40.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by SBI, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Infosys were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 445.87 points or 1.01 per cent higher at a record high of 44,523.02, and Nifty rose 128.70 points or 1 per cent to close above the 13,000-mark for the first time at 13,055.15.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,563.18 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Domestic equities continued to look good at the moment on favourable global cues, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

"Strong FPIs flow emerged as the main contributor to domestic markets' sharp rally in November. Monthly futures and options (F&O) expiry is expected to create some amount of volatility hereon," he added.

He further noted that US equities closed sharply higher as investors continued to cheer the progress on COVID-19 vaccines along with ease of political uncertainty after Trump's administration indicated a smooth transition for President-elect Joe Biden to the White House.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red.

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Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.26 per cent higher at USD 48.38 per barrel.