The benchmark indices snapped a five-day losing streak to end the week on a strong note, with the Nifty 50 managing to scale a new peak in the last minutes of trade.

The Sensex jumped 1,292.92 points, or 1.62%, to settle at 81,332.72. During the day, it soared 1,387.38 points, or 1.73%, to reach 81,427.18.

The Nifty surged 428.75 points, or 1.76%, to settle at an all-time closing high of 24,834.85.

On the Nifty, the top gainers were Shriram Finance, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and Apollo Hospitals, while ONGC and Tata Consumer Products were the only major losers.

On the Sensex, Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer, rising by over 4.51%. The other big gainers were Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys, JSW Steel, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Among the sectors, all glimmered in the green, with information technology, automobiles, infra, metals, and pharma recording the sharpest gains of 2-3%. Other sectors, including banks (private and PSUs), FMCG, realty, and energy also surged 1-1.5%.

The BSE Smallcap index rose 1%, while the S&P BSE Midcap jumped 2%.

Analysts at ICICI Securities suggest that sustaining the 24,000 mark will enable the Nifty to bounce towards a new all-time high.

They said that stock-specific action, sectoral rotation, the progression of the Q1FY25 earnings season, and global developments will be key factors.

The rupee slipped to its weakest level after the currency dipped two paise to end at a record low of 83.72 against the US dollar.

The currency was pressured by dollar demand from local oil companies, custodial banks, and tepid risk sentiment. The currency had closed at 83.6975 in the previous session.

Since the budget, foreign investors have been net sellers, withdrawing nearly ₹11,000 crore in the last three trading sessions.

However, the market impact has been limited as retail investors, through mutual funds, have been buying the dips.

Shares of Paytm’s parent company surged 10% and were locked in the upper circuit at Rs 509.05 after receiving government approval for its Rs 500 million ($5.97 million) investment in a key subsidiary.

Cipla shares rose nearly 6% after the company reported a 17% YoY increase in net profit and a 6% rise in revenue for the quarter ended June.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled higher while Tokyo ended lower. European markets were also trading in positive territory.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.40% to USD 82.04 a barrel.