Stock Market Today: Equity benchmark indices started the new week on an upbeat note with the NSE Nifty surging to a historic high breaching the 20,000 mark for the first time. The BSE Sensex also jumped 528.17 points to cross the 67,000 mark again.

The Sensex earlier touched 67,570 on July 20, 2023.

Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities, said “Bulls continue to lead the way as the benchmark index surged to a historic high, breaching the 20,000 mark for the very first time. This impressive rally followed a breakout from a descending channel that occurred last week. Looking ahead, market sentiment is expected to remain upbeat as long as the Nifty stays above the 19,900 level."

He added that on the upside, there is an immediate resistance zone between 20,100 and 20,200. If there is a convincing breakthrough above 20,200, it could pave the way for the Nifty to advance towards the 20,500 mark.

On the Sensex, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Maruti, HCL Tech and SBI jumped the most rising in the range of 2.18 per cent-1.39 per cent. Tata Motors, Tata Steel and TCS rose 1.20 per cent, 1.16 per cent and 1.05 per cent, respectively.

Among the 30-Sensex company, only two were in the red — Bajaj Finance (down 0.22 per cent) and Larsen & Toubro (lower 0.27 per cent).

Asia stock markets were softer on Monday ahead of U.S inflation September data this week with investors seeking signals about the Federal Reserve’s next likely moves on interest rates. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4%, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild gains.

The S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Friday but well below its session high and all three of Wall Street’s major averages posted weekly declines as investors worried about interest rates and waited anxiously for upcoming US inflation readings.