Sensex breaches 81K, Nifty scales 24,800 peak

Stock markets remained on record-smashing course for the fourth straight day on Thursday with benchmark Sensex breaching the 81,000 mark for the first time and Nifty scaling the record 24,800 level driven by buying in IT, oil&gas and FMCG shares.

Rebounding from its early lows, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 626.91 points or 0.78 per cent to settle at a fresh closing high of 81,343.46.

The index opened on a weak note and hit a low of 80,390.37 points in early trade.

However buying in IT shares TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra and index heavyweight Reliance Industries helped the index pare losses in the afternoon session.

The barometer surged 806 points or 0.99 per cent to hit a new record intra-day peak of 81,522.55.

The broader Nifty also pared early losses and climbed 187.85 points or 0.76 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 24,800.85.

During the day, it zoomed 224.75 points or 0.91 per cent to hit a fresh lifetime high of 24,837.75.

"The frontline indices firmed up in the second half, reaching fresh highs driven by renewed buying in IT stocks.

"Investor optimism for the sector grew after strong performance reports from the country's leading IT firms in the June quarter, coupled with a weakening rupee," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Softening US bond yields on growing hopes of a US Fed rate cut by September also boosted FII flows into Indian equities, analysts said.

Among Sensex shares, Tata Consultancy Services rose the most by 3.33 per cent.

Infosys gained 1.93 per cent ahead of the financial results for the June quarter.

The IT major after market hours reported a 7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6368 crore for the April-June period and also raised its growth outlook for the current fiscal.

Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India and HCL Technologies were the biggest gainers.

On the contrary, Asian Paints, JSW Steel, NTPC and Adani Ports were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled higher, while Seoul and Tokyo ended lower.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.14 per cent to $84.96 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,271.45 crore on Tuesday.