Sensex scales new highs, crosses 49,000-mark for the first time

The BSE Sensex crossed the 49,000-mark for the first time ever on Monday and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading above 14,400. Healthy buying was witnessed in the IT,

telecom and FMCG stocks and the rally was also led by massive inflow from foreign portfolio investors and positive cues from global indices.

Around 9.34 a.m., Sensex was trading at 49,211.61, higher by 429.10 points or 0.88 per cent from its previous close of 48,782.51. It opened at 49,252.31 and touched a high of 49,260.21 and a

low of 49,015.22 points.

Technology stocks led the Sensex rally with TCS rising over 1% on the back of reporting its highest ever Q3 growth in nine years. Infosys was the highest gainer with its stock rising 4.71%

on the BSE. HCL tech was up 3.74% and Wipro 4.24%.

Infosys was also the top gainer among Nifty stocks, with TCS, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, among others also seeing gains.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 6,029.83 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.16 per cent to USD 55.34 per barrel.

The rupee depreciated 24 paise to 73.48 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, tracking a rebound in the American currency even as domestic equities were trading with significant

gains.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.47 against the US dollar and fell to 73.48 against the greenback, registering a decline of 24 paise over its previous close. On

Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.24 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.37 per cent to 90.43.

"The US dollar index has started with a gap up trade this Monday morning in Asian trade as sharp gains in US yields and hopes for more stimulus to boost the world's largest economy prompted

some investors to temper bearish bets, pulling the currency further away from recent multi-year lows," Reliance Securities said in a research note.