Sensex and Nifty hit record highs as Asian markets trade flat, FTSE 100 advances with better-than-expected PMI

Indian indices opened higher on Thursday, continuing their gaining streak in the week as both Sensex and Nifty hit record highs in morning deals.

BSE Sensex added 91 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 54,461, while Nifty advanced 17 points, or 0.1 per cent, to reach 16,276.

Asian stocks opened weak on Monday following mixed cues from US peers, but recovered their losses in the early hours with Japan, Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese stocks now all trading in the green but with muted gains.

Stocks at the Wall Street ended mixed on Wednesday with gains in technology shares bringing Nasdaq higher, while worries over economic recovery post Covid-19 heightened and brought the other two leading indices down after job creation at private companies tumbled in July.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 1 per cent, while the S&P 500 index lost half a per cent, pulling the index below the record high it had set a day earlier. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index, however, managed to climb 0.13 per cent.

According to the ADP private payrolls reading, employers added 330,000 positions for the month of July, well below the Dow Jones estimate and sharp below last month’s figures.

London’s FTSE 100 ended in the green, helped by heavyweight financial stocks while upbeat company results and and a positive revision for the UK services PMI boosted momentum.

At the close, the blue-chip index was 18 points or 0.26 per cent higher, led by financial sector as insurer and asset management company Legal and General rose after beating estimates for first-half profit. Investment trust Scottish Mortgage, insurance company Prudential and bank Barclays gained between 1 to 3 per cent. Speculations of a better bid for betting company Entain helped make it the highest gainer on the index, rising 6.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, the domestically focused mid-cap index inched 0.1 per cent higher, with travel and real estate stocks leading the gains.

The final report from IHS Markit showed the UK’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) sank to 59.6 in July, however, well above the expectation of 57.8 and a 57.8 flash reading of last month.