Sensex breaches 54K mark for first time, HDFC jumps 4.6 pc

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices claimed fresh record peaks for the second consecutive day on Wednesday amid signs of macroeconomic recovery and firm global market mood.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Senses was up by 546 points or 1.02 per cent at 54,370 while the Nifty 50 advanced by 128 points or 0.79 per cent to 16,259.

Sectoral indices closed mixed with Nifty financial service gaining by 2.6 per cent, private bank by 1.9 per cent and PSU bank by 0.3 per cent. But Nifty realty slipped by 1.6 per cent, auto and FMCG by 0.9 per cent, and IT by 0.6 per cent.

Among stocks, home loan lender HDFC moved up by 4.6 per cent to Rs 2,672 per share. Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 3.9 per cent, ICICI Bank by 3.1 per cent, HDFC Bank by 2.1 per cent and Axis Bank by 1.8 per cent.

State Bank of India closed 2.1 per cent higher as the country's largest state-owned bank logged highest-ever quarterly net profit at Rs 6,504 crore.

The other prominent gainers were Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Reliance Industries, JSW Steel and Tata Steel.

However, Grasim dipped by 2.5 per cent to wind up the day at Rs 1,553 per share. Titan fell by 2.1 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.8 per cent and Adani Ports by 1.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian shares advanced to one-week highs led largely by good US corporate earnings, although the mood remained cautious as the rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus clouds the global economic outlook.

Hong Kong shares rose by 0.88 per cent due to gains in tech and consumer companies. South Korea's Kospi ended 1.34 per cent higher on strong foreign buying in chip sector.

But Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.21 per cent due to spiking coronavirus infections.