Sensex hits 38,000 for first time, Nifty50 nears 11,500
NEW DELHI: Another day, another record. Frontline indices Sensex and Nifty scaled fresh lifetime peaks in the opening deals on Wednesday. The 30-share pack of BSE hit Mt 38,000 for the first time ever. At 09:21 am, the index was trading 97 points higher at 37,985.
ICICI BankNSE 4.77 % was leading the performance chart with a gain of 3 per cent at Rs 328 apiece while auto major Maruti skidded 1 per cent to emerge as the worst laggard. The stock was trading at Rs 9,118 apiece on BSE.
The broader Nifty50 index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) was trading 21.45 points higher at 11,471.45.
"The future long term outlook for the Indian equity market continues to look bright. Government focus on financial inclusion of the masses and raising farm incomes will be a positive for the private banking and consumption sector," said Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. However, short term concern such as rising crude oil prices, global trade wars might have a negative impact in the short run, Jani added.
Among specific stocks, Nalco climbed as much as 9 per cent in the opening deals on Thursday. The company posted a net profit of Rs 687 crore in the first quarter ending June 30, 2019 (Q1FY19), an over five-fold jump over Rs 129 crore in Q1FY18. At 09:34 am, the stock was trading 6.23 per cent higher at Rs 71.60 apiece on BSE.
Selan Exploration jumped 10 per cent after ace investor Dolly Khanna on Thursday bought over 1 lakh shares in the company amounting to over Rs 2.5 crore, according to bulk deals data available on NSE. At 09:37 am, the stock was trading 6.82 per cent higher at Rs 267.70 apiece on BSE.
In the sectoral landscape, FMCG and Media were the only counters trading in the negative zone.
Volatility index India Vix advanced nearly a per cent to 12.64.