Domestic equity indices sprinted to a fresh lifetime high on Monday as investor sentiment got a lift after Pfizer and Serum Institute applied for emergency use authorisation for their Covid-19 vaccines in India.
Robust buying in finance, FMCG and banking counters offset weak global cues and a depreciating rupee. Rising for the third straight session, the Sensex soared 347.42 points or 0.77 per cent to its fresh closing peak of 45426.97, after touching a record intra-day high of 45458.92.
Similarly, NSE Nifty rose 97.20 points, or 0.73 per cent, to an all-time closing high of 13355.75. It touched its record intra-day peak of 13366.65 in early trade. The Nifty has now made fresh lifetime highs for five straight sessions.
Hindustan Unilever was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping 3.09 per cent, followed by Airtel, HDFC, ITC, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Sun Pharma, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, L&T and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Nestle India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank were among the laggards, dropping up to 1.37 per cent.
Vaccine major Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorisation for the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
Earlier on Saturday, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer became the first company to seek a similar approval from India’s drug regulator for its coronavirus vaccine in the country, after securing such clearance in the UK and Bahrain.
“News of progress in the Covid vaccine and healthy inflows by FIIs helped markets to continue the upward trend... We are seeing buying interest emerging on every dip, thanks to rotational participants across the sectors.
“Technically, Nifty could face a hurdle around 13,450. The stock-specific trading approach is yielding decent returns so far and we suggest continuing with the same,” said Ajit Mishra, VP — Research, Religare Broking.
BSE telecom, FMCG, healthcare, oil and gas, industrials, tech and capital goods indices climbed up to 2.78 per cent, while consumer durables and realty closed with losses.
