Benchmark equity index Sensex on Wednesday ticked higher to scale yet another lifetime closing peak of 77,337, while the broader Nifty retreated from the record high level amid a lack of immediate triggers.
In a volatile trading session, the emergence of profit booking in consumer durables, capital goods and energy shares negated strong gains in banking and financial stocks.
Rallying for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 36.45 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 77,337.59. During the day, it soared 550.49 points or 0.71 per cent to hit the fresh lifetime peak of 77,851.63.
The NSE Nifty ended at 23,516, down 41.90 points or 0.18 per cent. Intra-day, it rose 106.1 points or 0.45 per cent to hit a new record of 23,664.
"Strong buying in banking stocks helped Sensex sail through in a highly volatile trading session, while Nifty ended weak as investors booked profit in auto, metals, oil & gas, telecom and realty shares after the recent upsurge.
"Ahead of the Budget, markets may see stock & sector-specific activities on hopes the government may increase the outlay for sectors to push growth," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were the gainers.
On the other hand, Titan, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Power Grid were among the laggards.
As many as 2,235 stocks declined, while 1,634 advanced and 103 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"Tracking the positive global cues and robust undertone, the domestic market started on a firm note. But soon after, some hesitancy was seen in the benchmark index Nifty at the elevated zone, and a bout of profit booking was seen in the initial trading hours.
"Despite this, the bulls showed resilience, pushing the market into uncharted territory, which too was short-lived as another bout of profit booking set in during the final hours," Osho Krishan, Senior Analyst - Technical & Derivatives, Angel One Ltd, said.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.91 per cent and smallcap index went lower by 0.58 per cent.
Among the indices, realty declined 2.97 per cent, capital goods (2.15 per cent), oil & gas (1.97 per cent), power (1.86 per cent), industrials (1.82 per cent) and utilities (1.46 per cent).
Financial services, IT and bankex emerged as winners.
"Global stocks were mixed on Wednesday after US benchmarks rose to fresh records following the signs that the US economy may be slowing without falling into recession. Global stocks have broadly shrugged off political tensions in France and signs the Federal Reserve could wait until December to cut rates," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said.
