By Administration_ India
The Sensex and Nifty raced to fresh record highs on Wednesday as gains in financials, auto, and cement counters helped benchmarks extend their winning run for the sixth straight session amid positive global cues.
European equities marched higher after the UK became the first country to approve the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Serum Institute of India termed the approval as encouraging news and said the company would now wait for the final nod for the vaccine in India.
After succumbing to profit-booking in afternoon trade, the Sensex closed up by 133.14 points or 0.28 per cent at a record high of 47,746.22. The barometer scaled its all-time intra-day high of 47,807.85.
Similarly, the broad-based Nifty rose by 49.35 points or 0.35 per cent to finish at its lifetime high of 13,981.95. It touched all-time peak of 13,997 in intra-day trade.
Ultratech Cement topped the Sensex gainers’ chart, spurting 4.11 per cent, while Bajaj Finance rose 2.63 per cent and Maruti 2.11 per cent.
Mahindra and Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and Nestle India were among the other prominent gainers.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS, State Bank of India, and Infosys were among the laggards, dropping up to 1.62 per cent.
Sector-wise, the BSE basic materials, auto, realty and metal indices climbed as much as 1.61 per cent, while telecom, teck and IT closed with losses.