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| Photo Credit: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty surged to all-time high levels in early trade on Friday amid an optimistic trend in global markets after the US Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged and signalled rate cuts next year.

Continuous foreign fund inflows into the equity markets also fuelled the rally in stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 339.36 points to 70,853.56, its all-time high level, in early trade. The Nifty climbed 115.45 points to reach its record peak of 21,298.15.

Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Infosys, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries were the major gainers.

Nestle, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,570.07 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.55% to $77.03 a barrel.

“Wall Street experiences an early Christmas as the Fed hints at easing interest-rate policy in 2024. Nifty is poised to surge into uncharted territory, with a trading range of 20,500-21,500,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE benchmark jumped 929.60 points or 1.34% to settle at 70,514.20, its all-time closing high on Thursday. The Nifty rallied 256.35 points or 1.23% to settle at a record closing peak of 21,182.70.