Closing Bell: BSE Sensex, Nifty50 on record-making spree; extends gaining rally for 8th session in row

Closing Bell, Share market, Sensex, Nifty50, Nifty Bank, broader markets: Benchmark indices rallied for the eighth day running on Thursday, ending at fresh record closing highs, on the back of firm global market trends and continuous foreign fund inflows. Sensex and Nifty50 closed at record highs above 63,250 and 18,800 levels today, led by IT counters.

Sensex climbed 184.54 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 63,284.19 and Nifty advanced 54.15 points or 0.29 per cent to end at 18,812.50 – both closing at new life highs. The broader market such as Nifty mid and small-cap were up around 0.77 and 0.44 per cent at the close today.

Among the Sensex pack, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Larsen & Toubro were the major winners. ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards.

Wall Street equities closed sharply higher on Wednesday while US Treasury yields declined and the dollar sank after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank could slow the pace of interest rate hikes "as soon as December," even as he cautioned that inflation was still too high.

"Fed chief Jerome Powell's observation that 'it makes sense to moderate the pace of rate hikes' has come as a shot in the arm for the bulls to take the ongoing rally forward," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended higher. Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly in the green in the afternoon trade. Wall Street had ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.40 per cent higher at USD 87.32 per barrel on Thursday. While Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 9,010.41 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.