Markets Sparkle Ahead of Diwali To Close Firm in Green

The Diwali spirit set in with gusto, catapulting the Sensex to an all-time closing high and the Nifty just shy of the coveted mark. The credit for the day's stupendous rise goes to the slew of positive news on the global and domestic fronts. There was underperformance on the br5oader market front though; the midcap index ended at 8608, higher by 76 points and the small cap index ended at 10879, up 70 points. Heavyweights such as M&M, Tata Motors and SBI touched record highs, while L&T, ICICI Bank and Hindalco Industries scaled 52-week highs. The Sensex closed the day in green gaining 427.83 points or 2.09 percentage points to close at 20,893.57. Nifty ends the day at 6160.50 gaining 41.50 points or 0.68 percentage points. Market breadth was positive with 1,548 advances against 1,376 declines on BSE. On the global front, European stocks rose to a six-month high after the Federal Reserve announced $600 billion of additional bond purchases and earnings from BNP Paribas SA and Unilever topped estimates. U.S. futures and Asian shares gained.