Sensex tops 70,000, Nifty hits fresh all-time high; GTL Infra, Safari Industries jump up to 8%

Indian equity benchmarks extended their upward run for the third consecutive session in Tuesday's trade, led by gains in consumer and state-owned lenders. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 88 points or 0.13 per cent to trade at 70,016 while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 34 points or 0.16 per cent higher to scale a fresh all-time peak of 21,031.50.

Broader market (small- and mid-cap shares) were up too as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.21 per cent and small-cap climbed 0.58 per cent. India VIX, fear index, slipped 0.52 per cent to 12.69-level.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading higher. Overnight, all three major Wall Street indexes posted their new 2023 closing highs ahead of key economic data and US Federal Reserve monetary policy decision. 

Back home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Indian shares worth Rs 1,261.13 crore on a net basis during the previous session. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,032.92 crore.

Market participants also await November's retail inflation print, scheduled to be released after market hours today at 5:30 pm.

The ongoing rally in domestic benchmarks is bolstered by strong macroeconomic data, a drop in crude oil prices, favourable global interest rate outlook and resurgence of foreign inflows.

14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty FMCG, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty PSU Bank were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.54 per cent, 0.63 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty Oil & Gas slipped.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Life was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 2.07 per cent to trade at Rs 686.4. Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, SBI Life and Tata Steel gained up to 1.74 per cent.

In contrast, Eicher Motors, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, ONGC and Infosys were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,081 shares were advancing while 781 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, ITC, TCS, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, M&M, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers.

Also, GTL Infrastructure, Safari Industries, Sonata Software, J&K Bank and BLS International Services surged up to 8.06 per cent. On the flipside, PB Fintech, Sandur Manganese, Maharashtra Seamless, SIS and Tube Investments of India tanked up to 4.54 per cent.

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