At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 343.87 points or 0.47% to 73,995.22. The Nifty 50 index rose 133.75 points or 0.61% to 22,460.65.
The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 74,254.62 and 22,529.95, respectively in morning trade.
The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.45% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.64%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,156 shares rose and 700 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India’s forex reserves rose $140 million during the week ended March 22 to touch its all-time high of $642.631 billion, according to the latest RBI data. This is the fifth consecutive week of a jump in the overall reserves.
For the week ended March 22, the foreign currency assets decreased by $123 million to $568.264 billion. Gold reserves rose $347 million to $51.487 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $57 million to $18.219 billion, the RBI said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $27 million to $4.662 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.
Meanwhile, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 6.7% (provisional) in February 2024 as compared to the Index of February 2023. The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for November 2023 is revised to 7.9%. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to February, 2023-24 is 7.7% (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank Index gained 1.33% to 7,100.60. The index rallied 3.81% in the two trading session.
Indian Overseas Bank (up 6.59%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 5.44%), Central Bank of India (up 5.27%), UCO Bank (up 5.17%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 4.49%), Bank of India (up 3.58%), Indian Bank (up 1.7%), Union Bank of India (up 1.6%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.29%) and Canara Bank (up 1.15%) advanced.
Numbers to Track:
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 1.53% to Rs 68,712.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.05% to 104.50.
The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.07% to 4.198.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement added 30 cents or 0.34% to $87.30 a barrel.
Stocks in spotlight:
NCC rallied 4.13% after the company said that it has received new orders worth Rs 3,086 crore in the month of March, 2024.
Imagicaaworld Entertainment jumped 6.16% after the company announced the execution of definitive agreements for acquisition of 4 high quality parks operated by Malpani Group.
Datamatics Global Services zoomed 6.79% after the company announced the acquisition of Dextara Digital, a premier provider of Salesforce services.