At the domestic stock markets, the Sensex and the Nifty rose to post fresh record highs, today; while the Rupee appreciated slightly against the US Dollar. In the international markets, Brent crude oil futures traded below USD 72 a barrel.

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 228 points, or 0.4 per cent, to close at a record high of 52,329, today. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange advanced 81 points, or 0.5 per cent, to end at an all time high of 15,752. In the broader market on the BSE, the Mid-cap index advanced 0.8 per cent and the Small-cap index climbed 1.4 per cent.
 
Key indices at other Asian markets ended mostly higher, today. So Japan's Nikkei-225 index inched up 0.3 per cent; China's Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2 per cent; South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.4 per cent and Singapore's Straits Times index advanced 0.8 per cent. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.5 per cent.

In Europe, London's FTSE-100 had gained 0.2 per cent and Germany's DAX had traded marginally higher but France's CAC-40 had traded marginally lower, in intra-day trade.
     
In the forex market, the Rupee appreciated 20 paise to end at Rs 72.80, against the US Dollar.
 
Gold fell Rs 152, to Rs 48,107 per ten grams at Delhi's bullion market today on weak global cues. Silver dropped Rs 540, to Rs 69,925 per kilo.
 
Brent crude futures fell 62 cents, to USD 71.27 a barrel. US crude futures touched USD 70 for the first time since October 2018, but reversed course to trade 55 cents lower, at USD 69.07 a barrel.