The National Stock Exchange benchmark – Nifty 50 index – moved above its important psychological level of 16,000 for the first time and BSE’s 30-share Sensex rallied over 450 points to hit record high of 53,402.03 as economic indicators pointed at faster pace of economic revival. The country’s factory activity bounced back last month and GST collections jumped 33 per cent to Rs 1.16 lakh crore indicating demand revival in the economy which has been hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever were among the top movers in the equity benchmarks.

Rising GST collections, revival of car sales and bounce in factory activity in July points to faster pace of economic revival in the aftermath of second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, analysts said.

Buying was visible across sectors as nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Pharma and FMCG indexes’ over 1 per cent gain.