Benchmark indices were hoisted to fresh record highs, while investor wealth ballooned Rs 4.29 trillion as bulls were energised by the 8.4-per-cent GDP print amid positive global cues following in-line US inflation data.
The rally saw 30-share Sensex zooming 1245.05 points or 1.72 per cent to close at a new high of 73745.35. During the day, the gauge was up 1,318.91 points as it hit an all-time intra-day high of 73819.21.
On the NSE, the broader Nifty ended with gains of 355.95 points at an all-time closing high of 22338.75 after hitting a peak of 22353.30.
The across-the-board gains led to the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies touching Rs 392 trillion.
The better-than-expected growth rate was a key reason behind the rally. Analysts said the strong growth data will support the current valuations which are high given the run-up seen over the past few months. They pointed out that the rally was largely on the back of buying from domestic institutions, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) resorted to alternate bouts of buying and selling.
Another factor was the inflation data from the US which met expectations. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation rose 2.4 per cent in January, the smallest increase in almost three years. The number has strengthened optimism that the US Federal Reserve could start to cut interest rates as early as June this year.
“The strong resilience in India’s third quarter GDP growth numbers propelled the Sensex and the Nifty to fresh record highs amid a rally in index heavyweights such as Reliance, Tata Steel and banking stocks,” Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research) at Mehta Equities, said.
“The rally was supported by metals, financials, banking, oil & gas, and auto. Globally investors were optimistic after US Core PCE inflation edged lower to 2.8 per cent. This supported by healthy domestic data led the Nifty to mark a new high above 22300 levels,” Siddhartha Khemka, head - retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.
“We expect ongoing momentum to continue while taking cues from a fresh set of economic data next week.’’
Special session
Both the BSE and NSE will conduct a special trading session in the equity and equity derivative segments on Saturday to check their preparedness to handle major disruption or failure at the primary site.
The session will see an intra-day switch to Disaster Recovery (DR) site from Primary Site (PR).
The bourses said that there will be two sessions — the first from 9:15am to 10am on the PR, and the second from 11:30am to 12:30pm on the DR site.
Brokerages said that while there will be normal trading from 9:15am to 10am, there will be no activity between 10am and 11:15am and during this time, investors will not be able to place any orders.
