Sensex breaches 50,000 for the first time

Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) Day after Joe Biden's inauguration as US President, the BSE Sensex on Thursday opened above the 50,000-mark in a landmark development as it crossed the psychological barrier for the first time in its history.Around 9.20 a.m., it was trading at 50,014.71, higher by 222.59 points or 0.45 per cent from its previous close of 49,792.12.It opened at 50,096.57 and touched a fresh all-time high of 50,126.73 points.The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also touched a new record high of 14,736.65 points. It was trading at 14,717.15, higher by 72.45 points or 0.49 per cent from its previous close.Healthy buying was witnessed in auto and telecom stocks. A positive trend in the global markets also supported the indices on Thursday.The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Technologies.Further, rise in the shares of index-heavyweight Reliance Industries also lifted the Sensex. RIL shares were trading at Rs 2,077.50, higher by Rs 22.65 or 1.10 per cent from its previous close.
--IANS rrb/sn/in