The benchmark Sensex crossed the 78000-mark and closed at a record high in a rally led by banking stocks as investors cheered positive macro-economic data and bet on a growth-oriented but a fiscally prudent Union budget.

It was not only the 30-share gauge but also its bigger peer — the Nifty — which closed at a historic peak.

With records getting broken, some experts advised participants to be cautious and adopt a stock-specific approach amid lofty valuations.

However, there were others who felt that 2024 will again turn out to be a good year for stocks because of a stable government and a normal monsoon.

The Sensex vaulted 712.44 points or 0.92 per cent to end at a closing peak of 78053.52.
During the intra-day session, it jumped 823.63 points to touch a new high of 78164.71.
The index breached the 77000 mark for the first time on June 10.

At the NSE, the Nifty was up 183.45 points as it closed at a record high of 23721.30. During the day, it rose 216.3 points to hit an intra-day lifetime high of 23754.15.

Banking stocks were the flavour of the day with the market capitalisation of ICICI Bank surpassing the $100 billion mark.

In doing so, the private sector lender became the sixth listed entity to attain this milestone. The other companies that have attained this level include Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Infosys in 2022.

The ICICI Bank share ended at ₹1,199.05, marking a gain of ₹29.05 or 2.48 per cent over its last close — a market cap of ₹8.43 lakh crore on the BSE ($101 billion).

Since the June 4 — the day of the election results when the markets crashed as the BJP failed to get a majority on its own — the bank has seen its shares run up nearly 12 per cent.

Market circles said that the rally in the stock is on account of expectations that the bank will continue to report strong earnings accompanied by improvement in its asset quality and loan growth.

APSEZ slips

The Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (Adani Ports) continued to trade in the red for the second consecutive session after entering the Sensex pack as part of a semi-annual rejig.

The Adani Ports stock finished at ₹1,455.40 on Tuesday, a drop of 0.33 per cent over the last close after falling 1.54 per cent to an intra-day low of ₹1,437.60.

At close, the company had a market cap of ₹3.14 lakh crore on the BSE. Adani Ports made it to the Sensex group on Monday where it ended with losses of 1.68 per cent. It had replaced Bengaluru-based Wipro.