India's BSE Sensex closed marginally up at 85,720.4 on Thursday, marking an all-time high, amid optimism around US and India rate cuts next month and hopes that a trade deal with the US could be achieved soon. The combination of easing inflation, a strong growth outlook, and recent statements from the RBI Governor underpins market expectations of further interest rate reductions in India. Additionally, the IMF’s decision to reclassify the rupee’s exchange rate regime from ‘floating’ to ‘crawl-like’, citing reduced central bank interventions, reinforces a positive outlook by indicating enhanced market stability and predictability. Bajaj Finance (+2.6%), ICICI Bank (+1.4%), Hindustan Unilever (+1.2%), Bajaj Finserv (+1.1%), HCL Tech (+0.8%) and ITC (+0.8%) were the top gainers. By contrast, Eternal (-1.6%), Maruti Suzuki (-1.4%), Ultratech (-1.2%), SBI (-1.1%), and Tata Steel (-0.9%) emerged as the major laggards.