Continuing with the buying momentum, Sensex ended Thursday’s session at its all -time high closing of 21,373.66 after gaining 36 points. During the trade, the benchmark index also surpassed the 21,400 mark and touched an intra-day high of 21,409.66. Despite a lackluster session, Sensex managed to rise marginally on back of heavy buying in consumer durables and capital good stocks. The broader index Nifty also rose to its six-week high of 6,345.65 after marginal gain of 6.70 points.
For the second successive session, Sensex closed at new record levels. Nifty on the other hand surged to its highest levels since its closing of 6,363.9 on December 9, 2013. The benchmark index started the session on a weak note as it dipped to a low of 21,264.71 but recovered after mid-session buying and crossed 21,400-mark. It was just 74 points short of its life-time intra-day high of 21,483.74, recorded on December 9, 2013.
Commenting on the possible direction markets might move in the coming days, Kunal Saraogi of Equity Rush said, “We expect markets to continue to rise prior to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy review. Till now banking stocks have not really supported the market rally and if RBI announces a rate cut, it would be the best performing sector.”
RK Global Security’s Rakesh Bansal also feels that equity markets might rise in the coming day. He said, “We do not see a major downside in the markets and feel in the coming days, both Sensex and Nifty might surpass their previous all time high levels also.”
Even after 8 out of 12 sectoral indices declined, the markets gained on heavy buying in consumer durables and capital goods indices. Biggest gainers on BSE, consumer durable index rose by 2.33 per cent followed by capital goods index surged by 1.84 per cent.
Capital goods index rose primarily rose after larsen and Toubro reported a 22.44 per cent rise in standalone net profit for the December quarter. The construction and engineering giant was also the biggest gainer on Sensex as it rose by 2.81 per cent.
Meanwhile, on currency front, rupee lost 12 paise and ended the session at its two-week low of Rs61.93 per dollar. As per forex experts, a steep fall in dollar overseas amid signs of continued capital inflows restricted the rupee decline. The dollar index was down by 0.44 per cent against six other major currencies.