Sensex spurts 542 pts; Nifty Bank hits record high; metal shares shine

The domestic equity benchmarks extended gains in morning trade. The Nifty marched above the 25,550 mark. Metal shares advanced after the declining in previous three consecutive trading sessions.

At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 542.76 points or 0.66% to 83,733.43. The Nifty 50 index added 167.90 points or 0.66% to 25,586.60.

The Sensex clocked an all-time high of 83,805.26 in morning trade. Further, the Nifty Bank hit a life high of 53,434.25 in intraday today.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.25% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.64%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,233 shares rose and 1,341 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index added 1.56% to 9,395.30. The index fell 0.69% in past three consecutive trading sessions.

JSW Steel (up 3.23%), NMDC (up 1.63%), Tata Steel (up 1.61%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.59%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 1.33%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.21%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.02%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.96%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.85%) and Jindal Stainless (up 0.84%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IIFL Finance surged 9.76% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the restrictions imposed on the gold loan business of the company.

Power Grid Corporation of India added 1.16% after the company said that it has declared a successful bidder for establishing an inter-state transmission system the Khavda project in Gujarat.