Sensex surpasses 53K-mark briefly as Covid-19 vaccinations surge

A record daily surge in Covid-19 vaccinations powered India's benchmark stock index on Tuesday past the 53,000-level for the first time ever, with the blue-chip Nifty 50 also hovering close to its all-time high.

The S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.82 per cent at 53,013.20 by 10.39 am, while the NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.87 per cent to 15,883.95.

India administered a record 85 lakh vaccine doses on Monday under a federal campaign to inoculate all adults for free. Experts have said widespread vaccination remains one of the best tools to avoid the kind of devastation India saw during its second wave of the pandemic.

Declining cases and easing of pandemic-induced restrictions have also contributed to both the indexes gaining more than 1.7 per cent so far this month.

Read | Sensex rallies over 350 pts to hit record intra-day high; Nifty tops 15,850

There's a lot of activity in sectors seen benefiting from the opening up of economies, such as autos and construction-related ones like cement, said Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice-president of equity research at Kotak Securities. "Because of that we are seeing a lot of momentum in the market."

The Nifty Auto Index gained 1.75 per cent. Jefferies also said in a research note on Tuesday that India's auto demand is recovering again.

Maruti Suzuki was the top percentage gainer on the Nifty 50, jumping 4.1 per cent.

Nifty 50 components Shree Cement and UltraTech Cement rose 2.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, while construction giant Larsen & Toubro added 2 per cent.

Helping sentiment, broader Asian markets bounced from four-week lows as investors' focus on economic growth partly offset worries about any near-term rise in US interest rates.

Eyes will also be on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's appearance before Congress later in the day, for more clarity on the central bank's surprise hawkish shift last week.