Indian shares hit record highs on Friday as investors took a forecast-beating U.S. inflation reading in their stride and more Indian states eased pandemic restrictions, raising hopes for resumption of business activity.
The daily COVID-19 count in India remained under the one-lakh mark for the fourth consecutive day with the country reporting 91,702 fresh cases.
There was also some good news on the monsoon front after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said monsoon rainfall this year would be normal.
The monsoon has declared an early arrival with heavy rains, raising hopes for bumper agricultural production in the country.
The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex hit as high as 52,641.53 before ending the session up 174.29 points, or 0.33 percent, at 52,474.76.
The broader NSE Nifty index settled up 61.60 points, or 0.39 percent, at 15,799.35, after having hit a high of 15,835.55 earlier in the session.
A rise in metals prices boosted commodity-related stocks, with Hindalco, Coal India, JSW Steel and Tata Steel rallying 2-4 percent.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories climbed 3.2 percent. The company on Wednesday partnered with Rockwell Industries for the latter’s covid-19 vaccine freezers to enable storage of Sputnik V vaccine across India.
On the flip side, Bajaj FinServ, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank, Divis Laboratories and Axis Bank all fell around 1 percent.
Sensex, Nifty Scale Record Highs
2021-06-11 10:45:28
