Continued overseas investment helped Sensex briefly breach the 22,000 mark for the first time on Monday and then managed to end at a new record close with modest gains of 15 points. Market extended the rally for the fifth session on the back of capital goods, realty, banking and refinery segments.
The BSE 30-share barometer resumed nearly 100 points lower on the back of weak Asian cues but later moved between positive and negative territory. It ended at a new closing high of 21,934.83, a rise of 15.04 points or 0.07 per cent
This surpassed the previous closing high of 21,919.79 set on last Friday. The Sensex registered alltime high of 22,023.98 today. In five days, the Sensex has gained 988 points. The wide-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also edged up by 10.60 points, or 0.16 per cent, to record its closing high of 6,537.25. It also touched a new intra-day peak of 6,562.20 on Monday, surpassing previous lifetime peak of 6,537.80 hit on Friday.
Sensex constituents including HDFC Bank, l&T, RIl, M&M, SBI, Maruti Suzuki and HUl notched up handsome gains. TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, ITC, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s Gail India, Tata Steel, Wipro, Coal India fell. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs2,577.44 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Upcoming data like IIP, CPI for urban and rural India and WPI will dictate the future trend, traders say. “Positive global cues, optimism ahead of upcoming elections and FIIs buying is leading to sustained momentum,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio. Reliance Industries shares extended gains and climbed almost 2 per cent on expectations of higher production at its gas fields in the KG-D6 block.
The stock rose 1.93 per cent to Rs885.80 at the close on the BSE, giving it a market valuation of Rs2,86,281 crore. During the day, the shares had rallied as much as 3.8 per cent to Rs 902.40. Reliance had advanced 5.71 per cent on Friday. Asian stocks closed lower as weaker-than-estimated Chinese trade and inflation data stoked concern over the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.
Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan closed lower between 0.46 per cent and 2.86 per cent. However, European markets reversed their initial losses and were trading better in late morning deals. The CAC was up 0.98 per cent, the DAX 0.17 per cent and the FTSE 0.45 per cent.
Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: “Indian equities traded range bound today after Sensex set a new lifetime high during morning trade. They came under pressure after subdued trading in Asian markets after negative data from China. “Domestic markets are now keenly awaiting the release of important data scheduled to be released this week.”
Fifteen scrips out of 30-share Sensex ended higher while the remaining 15 closed lower. Major gainers from the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki 3.74 per cent, M&M 3.42 per cent, l&T 3.33 per cent, HDFC Bank 3.23 per cent, SBI 2.58 per cent, Bajaj Auto 2.53 per cent, BHEl 2.29 per cent and RIl 1.93 per cent.
Axis Bank 1.41 per cent, HUl 1.22 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.18 per cent and ONGC 1.16 per cent were among winners. However, TCS dropped by 3.67 per cent, Tata Motors 3.20 per cent, Sun Pharma 2.64 per cent, Gail India 2.31 per cent, Coal India 2.25 per cent and Hindalco 2.21 per cent. Infosys 1.82 per cent, Tata Steel 1.62 per cent, Wipro 1.44 per cent, Dr Reddy’s 1.36 per cent and Cipla 1.21 per cent were also among laggards.