sensex today: ET Market Watch: Sensex above 74K, Nifty above 22,400: Here’s why.

Indian markets closed at record highs, led by financial and IT stocks. Sensex rose 409 points to close at 74,086. Nifty rose 118 points to close at 22,474 points.

winners and losers
In the Sensex pack, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were the top gainers, up over 2 per cent each. Sun Pharma, M&M and HCL Tech also closed higher, while UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Maruti, JSW Steel and Power Grid closed in the red.

stocks in the news
IIFL Finance closed 20 per cent lower for the second consecutive session after RBI banned the company from raising funds through equity and debentures.

Zomato shares closed 2.7% lower after a 2.2% stake worth over Rs 3,000 crore came up for grabs in a block deal in which Ant Financial could be the seller.

global market
MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5%. The Hong Kong index rose 1.7%. Chinese blue chips fell. Investors are awaiting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday and key labor market data on Friday for clues about when to cut interest rates.

rupee
The Indian rupee closed stronger on the back of gains in mostly Asian currencies. The rupee closed at 82.8225 against the US dollar.