The Indian stock market scaled new highs on Tuesday with the BSE Sensex hitting the 57,000 mark for the first time in its history, while the Nifty nearly touched 17,000-mark but soon both witnessed a slight fall. 

Sensex has touched a record high of 57,124.78 and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange has hit its new all-time high of 16,995.55 points in the opening hour but the in indices, have trimmed their initial gains.

Heavy buying was witnessed in telecom stocks, while auto and banking stocks were under selling pressure.

Around 10.00 a.m., Sensex was trading at 56,937.21, higher by 47.45 points or 0.08 per cent from its previous close of 56,889.76 points. It opened at 56,995.15 and has touched an intra-day low of 56,859.10 points.

sensex

Nifty50, on the other hand, was trading at 16,943.85, higher by 12.80 points or 0.08 per cent from its previous close.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints, while the major losers were IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries.

Barring Nifty Auto, all the sectoral indices were trading in the positive territory. Bank Nifty gained 0.32 per cent, while Nifty IT was up over 1 per cent.

Today, the National Statistical Office will release the GDP numbers for the April-June quarter on 31 August 2021. RBI MPC in its 6th August 2021 resolution said that it expects June quarter GDP to grow at 21.4 per cent.

A recent poll of 41 economists conducted by news agency Reuters indicated that the gross domestic product (GDP) rose 20 per cent in the June quarter, compared to the record contraction of 24.4 per cent in the same period a year ago.

Monday's closure after fall in gold rates

Encouraging global cues, as well as expectations of healthy macro-economic data points, boosted India's key domestic equity indices on Monday but  gold price in India saw a huge drop on the back of low US dollar index.

Gold earrings
Representational imagePixnio

The yellow metal remained under pressure throughout the last week but fell on Monday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the US central bank plans to cut its asset purchases later this year.

On the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), October gold contracts slumped 0.20 per cent to Rs 47,441 for 10 grams at 0930 hours on August 30, while silver price remained flat around Rs 64,050.

US Fed data

The positive cues from US Fed along with expectations of a healthy growth in Q1FY22 GDP data led to the northward trajectory of the two indices. Initially, both the key indices opened on a gap-up not and swiftly rose in the early part of the day.

After a brief sideways move, they again resumed the upward march and ended almost at the intra-day high levels. Globally, Asian shares perked up after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell struck a dovish tone at the central bank's long-awaited symposium.

Besides, European stocks held firm on Monday near record highs scaled earlier this month, as hopes that continued central bank support would sustain an economic recovery offset woes over rising Delta Covid-19 variant cases.

Hong Kong exchange
A trading screen is seen following the opening of the markets by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua at the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain June 17, 2019.Reuters

Sector-wise, IT was the only sector that ended marginally in the red due to the appreciating rupee. In contrast, telecom and metals were the large gainers among sectors.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed the day's trade at 56,889.76 points, up 765.04 points, or 1.36 per cent, from its previous course. It made an intra-day record high of 56,958.27 points.

Similarly, Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange inched closer to the landmark 17,000 level but ended the day's trade at 16,931.05 points, up 225.85 points, or 1.35 per cent, from its previous close. The NSE Nifty50 touched the intra-day record high of 16,951.50 points.

"Nifty closed once again at the all time high," HDFC Securities' Head of Retail Research Deepak Jasani said.

"It is now near the 17,000 psychological mark. Sharply positive advance decline ratio has improved sentiments, though participants are aware of the high valuation and possibility of a correction that can set in soon. 17,000 is the next logical target for the Nifty while 16,731 is the support for the near term."