Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs as Inflation Cools

Mumbai: Equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, surged to new record highs on Thursday, buoyed by lower inflation figures which sparked hopes of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 538.89 points (0.70%) to an all-time high of 77,145.46, before closing at a fresh peak of 76,810.90, up 204.33 points (0.27%). The NSE Nifty gained 75.95 points (0.33%) to end at a new record of 23,398.90, having reached an intraday high of 23,481.05.

Retail inflation dropped to a one-year low of 4.75% in May, driven by a slight reduction in food prices, staying comfortably below the RBI’s 6% threshold. This positive inflation data spurred heavy buying in capital goods, consumer durables, and industrial stocks.

Top performers among Sensex constituents included Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle. Conversely, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, and ITC saw declines.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell by 0.71%, settling at $82.01 per barrel. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 426.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On Wednesday, the Sensex had risen 149.98 points (0.20%) to 76,606.57, and the Nifty added 58.10 points (0.25%) to reach 23,322.95.