Bull run continues; Sensex up 316 pts to end at 43,594, Nifty nears 12,750

The domestic equity market ended at yet another record peak on Wednesday amid broad-based buying, thus settling in the green for the eighth session in a row.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 316 points, or 0.73 per cent to settle at 43,594 levels. During the session, the index hit an intra-day high and low of 43,708 and 42,970 levels, respectively. The Nifty50 index, on the other hand, ended at 12,749, up 118 points, or 0.93 per cent. India VIX today gained over 2 per cent to 22 levels. 

Infosys, HDFC, Axis Bank, and ITC were the major contributors to the Sensex's gain today while Reliance Industries (RIL) emerged as the biggest drag. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.34 per cent to end at 15,283 levels while the S&P BSE MidCap index rallied 0.77 per cent to 15,663 levels.

Sectorally, barring Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Media, all other indices advanced. Nifty Pharma ended at 11,570, up 400 points, or 3.59 per cent. 

Global stocks

Stocks gained and bonds dropped on Wednesday as news of a working COVID-19 vaccine outweighed worries over surging infections, fuelling rotation towards cut-price losers from the coronavirus pandemic such as travel stocks.

The broad Euro STOXX 600 climbed 0.4 per cent, adding to a 5 per cent rally this week and adding to 0.1 per cent gains for Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. Wall Street futures gauges also climbed, with S&P 500 futures up 0.3 per cent.

In commodities, oil prices climbed as hopes of an effective Covid-19 vaccine continued to bolster sentiment, while an industry report showed US crude inventories fell more than expected.

(With inputs from Reuters)