Sensex breaches 77,000-mark for first time; Nifty hits record high level in early trade

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices hit their all-time high levels in early trade on Monday, with the Sensex breaching the 77,000-mark for the first time ever, rallying for the fourth day running.

Optimism in the markets is due to various factors such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revising upwards the GDP growth projection to 7.2 per cent for 2024-25 from 7 per cent earlier and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 385.68 points to hit its new record high of 77,079.04 in early deals. The NSE Nifty climbed 121.75 points to hit its lifetime peak of 23,411.90.

Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister on Sunday for a record-equalling third term, heading a 72-member Union Council of Ministers that put emphasis on continuity, youth and experience, while also rewarding partners in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, Power Grid, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries and NTPC were the biggest gainers.

Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Titan were among the laggards.

Later, the benchmarks faced volatile trends and were trading flat.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,391.02 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Tokyo quoted in the green while Seoul traded lower.

US markets ended lower on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.31 per cent to USD 79.87 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark ended at 76,693.36 up 1,618.85 points or 2.16 per cent on Friday. The Nifty settled with a jump of 468.75 points or 2.05 per cent at 23,290.15.