Sensex Today: Equity benchmark indices opened at new highs on Thursday but soon pared gains to turn nearly flat. The BSE Sensex was up 85 points after hitting a new peak of 74,245 and the Nifty rose to 22,523, holding slim gains of 30 points.

JSW Steel, Bajaj twins, Power Grid, Tata Steel and SBI led gains on the Sensex, while UPL was the additional Nifty gainer.

On the flip side, M&M, ICICI Bank, Infosys, TCS and RIL were among the frontline drags.

BSE Smallcap index gained 0.7 per cent, partially recouping previous day’s sharp losses. Midcap pocket was up 0.2 per cent.

Global Cues

Markets across Asia-Pacific hoisted the green flag on Thursday morning. In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei index soared 0.8 per cent to reach its new record high at 40,314.64, while the broad based Topix too hit its fresh high rising by 0.6 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi was up by 0.42 per cent, and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped by 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures stood at 16,565, surpassing the HSI’s previous close of 16,438.09, indicating a potential extension of gains on Wednesday.

In the US, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.58 per cent as the market recovered on Wednesday after the decline seen on previous two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent, and the S&P 500 shot up by 0.51 per cent.