Sensex ends 308 pts up at 48,177, Nifty at 14,133; Nifty metal surges 5%

The Indian government's decision to approve two vaccines -- Serum Institute of India's Covidshield, and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin -- for restricted use in an emergency situation pushed indices to record high levels yet again on Monday. Moreover, manufactruing PMI, that remained in the expansion zone for fifth straight month and stood at 56.4 in December, also let loose bulls on D-Street.

Extending the bull-run into tenth week, the benchmarks ended tad-bit lower than record highs but at fresh closing peaks nonetheless. The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day 308 points, or 0.6 per cent, higher at 48,177 levels on the BSE, after hittig fresh liftime peak of 48,220.4 in the intra-day deals. Its NSE counterpart, Nifty50, ended above the 14,100-mark for the first time, at 14,133 levels, up 114 points or 0.8 per cent. In the intra-day trade, the index hit a record peak of 14,148.

Tech stocks such as TCS, HCL Tech, and Infosys (up between 2 per cent and 4 per cent) settled the day as top gainers on the Sensex while steel stocks including Tata Steel and Hindalco (up over 8 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively) were the top performers on the Nifty. At the lower end of the spectrum, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, and Hero MotoCorp were the top losers.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Metal index jumped 5 per cent on the NSE today after global brokerage Jefferies said benign monetary policies, and potential stimulus measures provide strong backup to the metal sector. It also said that Indian metals should deliver a strong earnings rebound in FY22. Among individual stocks, Tata Steel, SAIL, Hindalco, and JSPL ended the day up to 7 per cent higher.

On the downside, Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Financial Services indices ended the day in the red.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap index hit a record high of 18,435.14 in intra-day session today, surpassing previous high of 18,321, touched on January 9, 2018. It ended 1.4 per cent higher at 18,421.5 level. The S&P BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, ended 1.37 per cent higher at 18,511 level.

Global markets

World stock markets hit record highs on Monday, the first trading day of the new year, as investors hoped the rollout of vaccines would ultimately lift a global economy decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

European stocks opened higher, with Britain's FTSE 100 gaining 1.75 per cent, Germany's DAX up 1.1 per cent, Spain's IBEX up 1.3 per cent and Italy's FTSE MIB rising 0.7 per cent. MSCI's All-Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, hit a record high and was up nearly half a per cent.

Asian stock markets also gained, although Japan's Nikkei 225 index shed early gains, falling 0.4 per cent after the government said it was considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures amid coronavirus concerns.

(With inputs from Reuters)