The Indian stock market saw a major rally on Friday, with the BSE Sensex surging over 1,000 points to hit an all-time high of 73,574 during early trading hours around 11:45 am. The spike in the benchmark Sensex index came as its NSE counterpart Nifty 50 also reached a record high, breaching the 22,300 level for the first time ever. The Sensexs 1,000 point jump led to a significant increase of Rs 3.23 lakh crore in the total market capitalization of listed companies, bringing the overall market value to Rs 391.18 lakh crore.A key driver of the stock market rally was India recording an economic growth rate of 8.4% for the December 2023 quarter - the highest pace in six quarters. Gross domestic product rose 8.4% from a year ago, boosted by robust private investment and increased services spending, as per government data released Thursday. GDP figures for the previous two quarters were also revised upwards to above 8%.The Sensex and Nifty gains aligned with a spike in global markets, especially US and Asian indices. Wall Street, the Nasdaq and Japans Nikkei posted strong growth in their latest sessions, providing tailwinds to Indian markets.In-line US inflation data also fueled optimism by keeping alive the prospect of future Fed rate cuts and more liquidity. Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,598 crore in the last session, while domestic investors sold Rs 230 crore worth of shares.The confluence of strong domestic growth, global cues and foreign inflows powered the landmark rally on Friday morning as Indian indices scaled unprecedented heights.
