Banking and energy sectors gain in Sensex surge

Market benchmark BSE Sensex on Monday rose 135 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at a fresh lifetime high, while the NSE Nifty breached the 11,400 level powered by gains in banking, energy, and telecom stocks.

The 30-share Sensex also hit an alltime high of 37,805.25 in intra-day trade, breaking its previous intra-day record level of 37,711.87 on August 1, as index majors Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank advanced.

The index shed some of the gains before closing at 37,691.89, its all-time closing high. Among the 30 Sensex scrips, 13 advanced while 17 declined.

The broader NSE Nifty breached the 11,400 level in early trade and touched a record intra-day high of 11,427.65 on gains in consumer durables, PSU, metal and auto stocks.

The 50-issue index finally closed higher by 26.30 points or 0.23 per cent at a historic high of 11,387.10, bettering its previous record close of 11,360.80 hit on Friday. Fresh buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and better-than-expected June quarter results from some blue-chip companies boosted investor sentiment, brokers said.

“Buoyancy in earnings led the market to touch a new high, while weak global cues and volatility in rupee influenced profit-booking in the latter half. PSU banks outperformed on expectation of improving asset quality,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, remarked.

Asian markets ended mixed after an initial rally, as investors continued to monitor the US-Sino trade spat.

Analysts said a respite was seen in mid and small cap stocks as the worst of earnings seem to be over now, and investors are gradually turning positive with a bottom-up approach.

The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.39 per cent. The S&P BSE MidCap index was up 0.26 per cent. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. Among sectoral indices, the bankex index rose the most, surging 1.11 per cent, followed by telecom at 1.11 per cent, energy at 0.98 per cent and PSU at 0.87 per cent.