Market Wrap, December 29: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The benchmark equity indices ended the volatile trading session on a strong note, hitting fresh closing highs. A rally in financials and select IT counters amid firm cues from global peers drove both Sensex and Nifty higher for the fifth straight day. 

After a strong open, the flagship indices wobbled in intraday trade but the bears failed to pin the bulls down for much longer. BSE barometer Sensex ended at 47,613, up 259 points after hitting an all-time high of 47714.55 during the day. Its NSE counterpart Nifty settled above the 13,900 mark for the first time. The 50-pack index finished the day at 13,933, up 59 points. During the day, it hit record high of 13,967.60. 

HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank along with Infosys, Tech Mahindra and ITC were among the top Sensex contributors. However, losses in index heavyweight RIL and FMCG stocks HUL and Nestle capped gains. 

IndusInd Bank was the best Sensex performer, up over 5 per cent while Nestle was the worst, down nearly 2%.

In the sectoral landscape, Nifty Media turned out to be the biggest loser while Nifty Private Bank index was the top gainer. Auto, pharma, metal and realty indices too ended in the red.

The broader markets underperformed benchmark as Nifty Midcap shed 0.11 per cent and Nifty Smallcap settled flat, down 0.02%. 

India VIX, on the other hand, rose nearly 2% but settle below 21 mark.

Among stock-specific news, a TV report said that promoters of Vedanta are mulling further 10% stake purchase in the company over the next few months. 

Shares of Fineotex Chemical surged 20 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 64.90 after Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF) bought nearly 6 per cent stake in specialty chemicals company via open market on Monday. 

Borosil Renewable stock was locked in 10 per cent upper circuit limit. This was also its all-time high level. In the past 11 trading days, the share price of Borosil Renewables has zoomed 113 per cent from the level of Rs 131.60 on December 11, 2020. 

In an update on the Covid front, six persons who returned to India from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new UK variant genome of Covid-19, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Amid this backdrop, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that he foresees a slight extension of the temporary suspension.

Lastly, an update on the global markets...

Global shares rose as hopes of fresh U.S. stimulus teed up a strong end to the year for riskier assets.

Japanese stocks hit a 30-year high while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.45%. Early gains in Europe were broad-based, with all major indexes rising, led by Britain's blue-chip shares. The FTSE 100 rose 1.5% in early deals, on course for its fourth straight day of gains.

U.S. stock futures also point to a 0.5% higher open on Wall Street later in the day.