Indian shares close at record high on financial, IT sector boost

BENGALURU: Indian shares closed at a record high on Wednesday after ending flat in the previous session, helped by gains in financial, technology stocks and investor optimism over the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended up 0.85pc at 13,682.70 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.87pc higher at 46,666.46. Both indexes have now hit record highs in 17 of 26 sessions.

The country's equities have posted six straight weekly gains, boosted by record inflows from foreign institutional investors, progress on COVID-19 vaccines globally and signs of a nascent domestic economic recovery.

Lender HDFC Bank and IT major Tata Consultancy Services were among the top boosts to the Nifty 50, closing 1.4pc and 1.9pc higher, respectively.

Mahindra and Mahindra ended up 2pc after the automaker said on Tuesday it would increase the price of its passenger and commercial vehicles from January.

Vedanta closed 1.5pc higher as a report said the miner was planning to raise as much as $8 billion for its bid for state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

The Nifty PSU Bank Index, which tracks state-run lenders, was the only index to close in the red, falling 1.6pc.

The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday in a working paper that banks' capital positions need strengthening for monetary policy actions to have their full impact.

Global markets rose to record highs, with the MSCI world stock index rising 0.4pc.