Sensex, Nifty end at fresh lifetime peaks; PSU banks outperform

Domestic equity benchmarks rose to lifetime high on Wednesday, driven by gains in Infosys, TCS, Bharti Airtel and Titan. Sensex ended 476.11 points or 0.82% higher at 58,723.20, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 139.45 points or 0.80% to a fresh closing high of 17,519.45. NTPC, rising over 7%, was the top Sensex gainer followed by Bharti Airtel, Titan, HCL Tech, SBI, PowerGrid, TCS and IndusInd Bank. Asian Paints, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance and Nestle India were among the laggards. Most sectoral indices, barring Nifty Media, on the NSE closed in the green. Nifty PSU Bank, closing nearly 3% higher, was the top sectoral gainer followed by Nifty IT, up nearly 2%. Nifty Auto and Nity Metal rose nearly 1% each. The Union Cabinet today approved a relief package for the telecom sector for the payment of statutory dues and a Rs 26,058 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the auto industry. The cabinet also okayed 100% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector through the automatic route. In Asia, stock exchanges in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended with losses, while Seoul closed in the green.