Opening Bell: Markets Open At Record High; Sensex At 70,155.11, Nifty At 21,089.60

The markets opened higher on Thursday with Sensex at 70,155.11, up by 570.51 points and Nifty was at 21,089.60 with a jump of 163.25 points, reaching record high.

Nifty Bank in the morning session was trading higher at 47,554.70, up by 462.45 points or 0.98 per cent.

From Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Infosys were the major gainers in the morning session whereas PowerGrid, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, and Hindustan Unilever were among the major losers.

Markets on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the indices closed with the Sensex up by 33.57 points or 0.05 percent, reaching 69,584.60, while the Nifty rose by 19.90 points or 0.10 percent to 20,926.30.

Global markets

On Tuesday, the US market clsoed higher: the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 512.3 points, marking a 1.4 percent increase to reach 37,090.24. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 showed a gain of 63.39 points, equivalent to a 1.37 percent rise, closing at 4,707.09. Additionally, the Nasdaq Composite climbed by 200.57 points, a rise of 1.38 percent, reaching a closing figure of 14,733.96. Notably, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq achieved new closing highs for the year.

Asian markets opened with gains on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped by 64.32 points, reaching 32,862.03. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged by 230.79 points, currently sitting at 16,459.54, while South Korea's KOSPI increased by 34.66 points, reaching 2,545.32. Moreover, India's Gifty Nifty stands at 21,226.50, showing a gain of 201.05 points.

Oil prices

During early Asian trade on Thursday, there was an increase in oil prices. Brent futures climbed by 46 cents, accounting for a 0.6 percent rise, reaching a settlement of US dollar 74.72 per barrel by 0007 GMT. Similarly, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude experienced a 48-cent increase, marking a 0.7 percent upturn, settling at US dollar 69.95.