Sensex touches lifetime intra-day high; BSE cos' valuation at record level

This comes amid increased buying in index heavyweights and supportive global trends.

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Continuing its bullish run dotted with multiple record peaks, the benchmark 30-share Sensex touched a lifetime high of 52,641.53 points on Friday on increased buying in index heavyweights and supportive global trends.

While the BSE Sensex scaled its lifetime intra-day as well as closing peaks, the market capitalisation of all companies listed on Asia's oldest bourse too climbed to a record high of Rs 2,31,11,214.71 crore on Friday.

In just two days, investors' wealth has swelled by Rs 3,26,165.82 crore.

Sensex, which has been scaling new peaks in recent months, jumped 174.29 points or 0.33 per cent to end at an all-time closing high of 52,474.76 on Friday. In intra-day trade, it soared 341.06 points to a record 52,641.53.

"The broader market is very healthy. It is very likely that the top-10 heavyweights of the Sensex, which have been dormant for some time, will begin to participate.

"Already, RIL has resumed its upmove. This will add to the strength of Indian equities," said Amar Ambani, Senior President and Head of Research -- Institutional Equities at Yes Securities.

Dr Reddy's was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 3 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

L&T, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the Sensex took cues from the strength of the mother market US where S&P 500 touched record highs.

"The stock market is solely focused on the future. Hopes of a quick economic revival post unlock and expectation of large number of adult population vaccinated in 2021, are keeping markets excited. Q4 FY21 earnings have been encouraging, even after adjusting for the low base of March 2020," Ambani said.

Sensex, the country's first equity index, was launched in 1986. On July 25, 1990, it had closed above 1,000-mark and took nearly 16 years to cross the 10,000-level on February 7, 2006.