Sensex Crosses 61,000, Nifty Ends Above 18,300

The markets continued to scale higher and mark new record highs on the back of buying in banking and IT stocks throughout the trading session. Experts are of a view that due to no negative triggers in the short-term, the upbeat sentiment is likely to continue in the markets amid fluctuating flows from foreign investors.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, "Since there are no known triggers for a sharp correction in the short run and the market momentum continues to be strong, the exuberant retail investors are likely to drive the markets further up even though seasoned investors are worried about excessive valuations."

The Sensex rallied more than 600 points in the day's trade to hit a new lifetime high of 61,353.25, and the Nifty-50 hit 18,350.75. At close, the Sensex was up 568.90 points at 61,305.95, while the Nifty-50 ended higher by 176.80 points at 18,338.55. Shares of HDFC Bank, ITC, Power Grid Corp, ICICI Bank, and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers in the 30-share pack Sensex, up more than two per cent each in the day's trade.

Tracking the sectors, the Banking and IT stocks fueled the rally in the markets today as the indices gained more than a per cent each. Except for Auto, all other sectors ended higher on Thursday. The IT sector saw solid gains in the intraday session as shares of Mindtree and Wipro gained over seven and five per cent each.

Moving further, the strong sentiment in the market is likely to continue as there are no fears of a major correction in the near-term, however, inflation and rising commodity prices can dampen the sentiment, said experts. The market is likely to see some big action if the Sensex manages to stay above 61,000, experts feel.

Likhita Chepa, Senior Research Analyst, CapitalVia Global Research, said, "If the market sustains above 61000. We can expect the market to trade in the range of 61000-61300. Technical indicators also support positivity in the market."

In the overall market breadth, 888 shares advanced and 930 shares declined in the NSE.

The markets will remain closed tomorrow (Friday, October 14) on account of Dusshera.