Shares soar on plunging oil prices; Nifty hits fresh peak

Shares surged on prospects of interest rate cut by RBI after crude prices plunged to multi- year lows, firing up the benchmark Nifty which hit fresh record high at the NSE on nearly 100-point gain today.
Falling oil prices in the wake of OPEC's decision to refrain from cutting output despite a huge oversupply sent the rates tumbling by more than 8 per cent to a four-year low.
The bullish sentiment sent domestic investors on a stock-picking spree amid hopes of more reforms from the Modi Government and improved growth supported by capital inflows.
The 50-share bellwether index zoomed by a healthy 94.05 points, or 1.11 per cent, to conclude at 8,588.25 after briefly topping the 8,600 mark (8,617) in intra-day trading.

The market is riding high on hopes that RBI would cut rates in the next week's policy meet due to drop in crude prices in international market, moderation in inflation and low commodity prices, a trader said.
Till now, most analysts were expecting a rate cut only next year.

Sector-wise, financial stocks were the darling of the market along with auto, realty, infra, FMCG, metal and pharma shares. The broader markets, too, were strong with mid and small cap indices surging nearly 2 per cent.
However, technology stocks ended down.
Banking stocks, especially Government lenders, hogged the limelight with SBI soaring 5 per cent, while Bank of Baroda, PNB and Canara Bank also making good gains.

Oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC shot up between 4-9 per cent.
Key gainers were ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, L&T, M&M, ITC, Zee, Tata Steel IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Maruti, Lupin, BPCL, IDFC, Hero, RIL, Power Grid, Coal India, ACC, NTPC, Wipro and Grasim.
Turnover in the cash segment jumped to Rs 21,126.67 crore from Rs 20,268.53 crore yesterday. A total of 9,299.88 lakh shares changed hands in 77,63,365 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 97,39,570 crore.