Equity indices hit fresh all-time highs, auto and IT stocks surge

Equity benchmark indices reversed early losses and hit fresh record highs in the afternoon session on Thursday despite uncertainty in global markets after the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power.

The market mood appeared to be gradually improving on expectation of further steps in the upcoming Budget to reverse the economic slowdown by reviving consumption and attracting private investments.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 115 points higher at 41,674 while the Nifty 50 gained by 38 points at 12,260. At the National Stock Exchange, Nifty auto was up by 1.03 per cent and IT by 0.65 per cent.

Tata Group stocks shed early losses and traded in the positive zone, a day after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) reinstated Cyrus Mistry as the Executive Chairman of Tata Group.

Tata Consultancy Services closed 2.9 per cent higher at Rs 2,231.70 per share while Tata Motors was up by 2.4 per cent and Tata Steel by 0.48 per cent.

At the same time, index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 2.3 per cent, Yes Bank by 6.5 per cent, Eicher Motors by 3 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 2.7 per cent and Mahindra & Mahindra by 2 per cent.

However, those which lost were Vedanta, Grasim, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma and HDFC.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mixed after climbing for five straight sessions. Japan's Nikkei dipped by 0.29 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost by 0.3 per cent. South Korea's Kospi edged higher though by 0.08 per cent.

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