Sensex and Nifty hit new peaks
The key Indian equities indices and Nifty on Monday advanced up to 0.36 per cent to close at fresh record levels largely on the back of gains in banking, energy and telecom stocks.
MUMBAI/BEIJING — The key Indian equities indices and Nifty on Monday advanced up to 0.36 per cent to close at fresh record levels largely on the back of gains in banking, energy and telecom stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex also hit an all-time high of 37,805.25 in day trade, breaking its previous intra-day record level of 37,711.87 touched on August 1, as index major Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank advanced.
The barometer closed up by 135.73 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 37,691.89, its all time closing high, even as 17 of its constituents ended in the red.
The broader National Stock Exchange Nifty advanced 26.30 points or 0.23 per cent to end at a historic high of 11,387.10, bettering its previous record close of 11,360.80 hit on Friday.
The 50-share index breached the 11,400 mark for the first time in day trade and touched record intra-day high of 11,427.65 on gains in consumer durables, PSU, metal and auot stocks.
Fresh buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and betterthan-expected June quarter results from some blue-chip companies boosted investor sentiment, brokers said.
Asian markets ended mixed after initial gains as investors continued to monitor the US-Sino trade spat. Global stock markets also were mixed after the United States reported strong jobs numbers and China threatened a tariff hike. In early trading, Germany’s DAX shed 0.4 per cent to 12,568.45 while London’s FTSE 100 gained 4 points to 7,663.25. France’s CAC 40 lost 1.5 points to 5,478.37. On Friday, the FTSE gained 1.1 per cent, the DAX rose 0.6 per cent and the CAC 40 added 0.3 per cent. On Wall Street, futures for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average were unchanged. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3 per cent to 2,705.16 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was off 18 points at 22,507.32.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent to 27,819.56 and Seoul’s Kospi was down 1 point at 2,286.50. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.6 per cent to 6,273.00 and India’s Sensex advanced 0.5 per cent to 37,739.68. benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand rose, while Bangkok declined. Regulators tightened controls on trading in China’s yuan in a possible effort to stop its decline against the dollar. Traders were ordered to post a 20 per cent deposit for contracts to buy or sell yuan, which raises the cost of betting it will fall further. The yuan has drifted lower against the dollar since February, which could help exporters that face higher US tariffs but also raises the risk of capital flowing out of the economy.
The central bank “had been largely tolerant” of the yuan’s decline, but the latest changes “may have gathered concerns including capital flight,” said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report.
The dollar declined to 111.25 yen from Friday’s 111.26 yen. The euro edged down to $1.1562 from $1.1569.