Sensex rises 150 points to hit fresh record in early trade; Nifty above 17,560

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade to scale a fresh lifetime high of 58,875.78 on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and HCL Tech. The broader NSE Nifty too surged more than 50 points to reach its new peak in the opening session.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 152.58 points or 0.26 per cent higher at 58,875.78. Similarly, Nifty advanced 50.30 points or 0.29 per cent to 17,569.75 in initial deals.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising nearly 3 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, ITC, HCL Tech, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Bank and Bharti Airtel. On the other hand, HUL, Titan, Asian Paints, HDFC were the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share index settled 476.11 points or 0.82 per cent higher at 58,723.20. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 139.45 points or 0.80 per cent to its new closing high of 17,519.45.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong were trading with losses in mid-session deals. US equities ended with gains in the overnight session.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a big-bang relief package for the stressed telecom sector that includes a four-year break for companies from paying statutory dues, permission to share scarce airwaves, change in the definition of revenue on which levies are paid and 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route.

The Cabinet also approved a revised Rs 25,938 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for auto and auto-components industries to enhance the domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 232.84 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.48 per cent to USD 75.82 per barrel.

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