On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 486.49 points to hit a fresh record of 65,205.05 and the wide-based Nifty settled at an all-time high of 19,322.55. Both indexes hit fresh record highs earlier in the session. Financial services stocks were among the top gainers on Nifty’s sectoral indexes, rising 1%. Index heavyweights HDFC and HDFC Bank gained 1.75% and 1.08%, respectively, after approving July 1 as the effective date of their $40 billion merger.
