The markets are on a roll on Wednesday (August 4) morning. The Sensex touched 54,000 mark for the first time. The Sensex was up 241.91 points or 0.45 percent at 54065.27, and the Nifty was up 103.10 points or 0.64 percent at 16233.90. About 1391 shares have advanced, 338 shares declined, and 68 shares are unchanged.
After scaling its lifetime peak of 54,256.13 in opening trade, the 30-share index was trading 415.33 points or 0.77 per cent higher at 54,238.69 in initial deals.
In tandem, the broader NSE Nifty surged 116.10 points or 0.72 per cent to an all-time peak of 16,246.85 in early trade.
Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by HDFC, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s, Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, SBI, HUL and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 872.73 points or 1.65 per cent higher at its fresh closing record of 53,823.36, and Nifty rallied 245.60 points or 1.55 per cent to an all-time peak of 16,130.75.
FIIs turn net buyers
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,116.60 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.
Domestic equities continue to look good as of now, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.
"Key economic indicators like GST collection, auto sales volume and other high-frequency indicators like e-way bills indicate a strong rebound in July, which bodes well and indicates sustained healthy corporate earnings in subsequent quarters," he noted, PTI said.
Further, Modi added that India stands to be benefitted from China''s regulatory crackdown on technology and education companies in recent weeks in the form of FIIs investments.
US markets close high
The S&P 500 index closed at record high on Tuesday on gains in Apple and healthcare stocks, despite concerns over a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus taking some shine off an upbeat corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 278.24 points or 0.8 percent to 35,116.4, the S&P 500 gained 35.99 points or 0.82 percent to 4,423.15 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80.23 points or 0.55 percent to 14,761.30. The markets could open higher, in line with largely positive Asian markets today and higher US markets on Tuesday, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
Asian shares advance
Asian shares advance to one-week highs on Wednesday, led largely by strong US corporate earnings, although the mood remained cautious as the rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus clouds the global economic outlook.
4 IPOs will open for subscription
Four initial public offerings worth more than Rs 3,600 crore open for subscription on August 4 and close on August 6--Devyani International, Windlas Biotech, Exxaro Tiles and Krsnaa Diagnostics.
Experts recommend investing in Krsnaa Diagnostics and Devyani International shares because both could make listing gains and are also good long-term bets.
Quarterly earnings today
Adani Green, Apollo Tyre, HPCL, State Bank of India, Tata Communcation, Titan Company, Bosch, and Godrej Consumer Products.
Stocks to watch
Godrej Properties, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services
Fuel prices remain unchanged
Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for the eighteenth consecutive day on Wednesday. In Delhi, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.84 per litre, while diesel is also being sold at the unchanged price of Rs 89.87 a litre.
In Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed Rs 100-mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price is at Rs 107.83 per litre. Diesel price in the city is also at Rs 97.45, the highest among the metros.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs 102.49 per litre while the price of diesel is Rs 94.39 per litre. The price of petrol in Kolkata is Rs 102.08 per litre while diesel is sold at Rs 93.02 per litre.
International oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.11 per cent to $72.49 per barrel.
