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

Indian indices opened higher on Thursday, continuing their streak of gains during the week as Sensex and Nifty hit record highs in morning trading.

BSE Sensex added 91 points, or 0.2%, to 54,461, while Nifty rose 17 points, or 0.1%, to 16,276.

Asian stocks opened weakly on Monday following mixed hints from their US peers, but recovered early in the morning, with stocks in Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China now all trading in the green but with moderate gains.

Stocks on Wall Street ended mixed on Wednesday with gains in tech stocks pushing the Nasdaq higher, as concerns about the economic recovery after Covid-19 intensified and pushed down the other two major indices after the fall in the job creation in private companies in July.

At the close of the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 1%, while the S&P 500 Index lost half a percent, pulling the index below the record it set a day earlier. The technology-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, however, managed to climb 0.13%.

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

London’s FTSE 100 finished in the green, helped by weight financials, as positive corporate results and a positive revision of UK services PMI boosted momentum.

At the close, the blue chip index was 18 points or 0.26% higher, led by the financial sector as insurer and asset management firm Legal and General rose after beating estimates of profit in the first half. Investment firm Scottish Mortgage, insurance company Prudential and Barclays Bank gained between 1 and 3 percent. Speculation of a better offer for betting firm Entain helped make it the top winner on the index, up 6.1%.

Meanwhile, the domestically-focused mid-cap index edged up 0.1%, with travel and real estate stocks leading the gains.

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