Market Wrap, Jan 2: Sensex gains 321 pts, Nifty ends at record closing high

Global gains, improved December auto sales figures, and expansion in manufacturing activity to a 7-month high in December pushed Indian equities higher on Thursday. Reliance Industries, L&T, HDFC twins, and IndusInd Bank were the major contributors towards today's gains. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 320.62 points, or 0.78 per cent, higher at 41,626.64 level, with UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and L&T being the top gainers on the index. On the downside, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, and Nestle ended the day as top laggards.

On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 settled at record closing high of 12,283, surpassing its previous closing high of 12,271.80 (touched on December 20, 2019). At close, the Nifty index was up 100.45 points, or 0.82 per cent.

Meanwhile, broader markets settled with gains of over a per cent each. About eight stocks in the BSE small-cap index were locked in the 20 per cent upper circuit today. The S&P BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices closed 1.18 and 1.44 per cent higher, respectively.

The units of the ambitious Bharat Bond exchange-traded fund issued by Edelweiss Asset Management got listed at the National Stock Exchange today. At close, both the units - BHARAT Bond ETF - April 2023 and BHARAT Bond ETF - April 2030, settled mildly above the issue price of Rs 1,000. Last month, the ETF saw an oversubscription of 1.7 times, garnering Rs 12,000 crore which is likely to be utilised for capital expenditure of PSUs. 

In the corporate section, challenging the NCLAT's order to reinstate Cyrus Mistry, Tata Sons said in its petition that former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry's actions as a Director of Tata Sons were causing a grave threat to the integrity of Tata Sons Board.

Lastly, on the economic front, India's factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in seven months in December as a jump in new orders prompted companies to ramp up production. 

Here is how the first day, of 2020, was for global markets:

Asian shares kicked off 2020 on a strong note spurred by Chinese markets after Beijing eased monetary policy to support the slowing economy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.43 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.05 per cent.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.9 per cent.