Shares of frontline entities such as State Bank of India (SBI), Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp, Axis Bank and HDFC zoomed to new 52-week-highs on Wednesday, catapulting equity benchmarks to new highs in the process. The BSE Sensex hit a new year-high of 29,067 before shedding gains to trade at 28,988, up 10 points, at around 12.39 p.m.
The 50-scrip NSE Nifty was trading with minor losses of around five points at 8,937 after reaching an intraday high of 8,951.
The rally on the 30-scrip BSE Sensex was led by a diversified set of stocks that rose to new year highs. SBI hit Rs. 268.15, Maruti Suzuki Rs. 53,57.95, Tata Motors Rs. 598.60, Axis Bank Rs. 638, GAIL (India) Rs. 407.80 and HDFC Rs. 1,463.25.
Tata Motors announced on Tuesday that it won orders to supply 5,000 buses worth Rs.900 crore to 25 state transport units, marking a growth of 80 percent compared to last year.
Besides, many other bank stocks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Canara Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank and IndusInd Bank also hit new 52-week high. The BSE Bankex was up 0.32 percent on Wednesday, consolidating the 2.96 percent gain the previous day.
Earlier, brokerage Angel Broking said in its pre-market note that Indian stock markets were expected to open on a positive note.
The rupee opened at a four-month high of 66.36 to the U.S. dollar after closing at 66.52 on Tuesday. "The intra-day range is seen between 66.10-66.50 levels," IFA Global said in a note on Wednesday.
The appreciation is seen as an outcome of sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on the stock and debt markets. On Tuesday, FIIs were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs. 1,438 crore, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Wipro shares were trading with marginal gains of around 1 percent at Rs. 487.75 after the Bengaluru-based company announced winning a three-year contract from Norway's railway transport company NSB.
The yield on the 6.97% 2026 bond, which is new 10-year debt, was down 4 bps to 6.92 percent on Tuesday while the 7.59% 2026 bond yield dropped 2 bps to 7.10 percent, retail financial services company Geojit BNP Paribas said in a note on Tuesday.
