Breakout rally lifts Nifty above 16000

„BSE market-cap hits `240L crore

In a breakout market rally after two months of consolidation, the Nifty-50 index crossed the 16000mark for the first time gaining 245.60 points or 1.55 per cent and settled at a new all time high of 16130.75 after touching an all time high of 16146.90.

The Sensex also gained 872 points or 1.65 per cent to close at a new record high of 53823.73. BSE's market capitalisation hit a new high of Rs 240.04 lakh crore.

Foreign portfolio investors were the main driving force behind Tuesday's rally with net buying of Rs 2,116.60 crore, which comes after turning net sellers in July.

Domestic institutions booked profit on Tuesday by net selling equities worth Rs 298.54 crore.

"Progressive economic data indicates strong rebound from impact of the second wave. All major domestic data like PMI index (55.3 in July from 48.1 June), July GST collection (at Rs 1.16 lakh crore second highest in this fiscal), corporate earnings, strong export data, etc. favour a strong recovery. This has led to euphoria in the domestic market," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

Easing of restrictions in Maharashtra and several other states, a significant fall in daily Covid cases, stronger July auto sales and widespread monsoon rains last week also seemed to have triggered the breakout rally after a narrow trading range seen for the last two months.

The top Nifty-50 gainers included Titian (3.99 per cent), HDFC (3.78 per cent), IndusInd Bank (3.49 per cent), Nestle (3.29 per cent) and Ultratech Cement (2.71 per cent).

Auto, FMCG, bank, IT, capital goods and telecom sectors gained more than 1 to 1.5 per cent while metals and realty sectors played laggards.