Sensex scales new high; Nifty tops 11,000 mark
UPWARD STREAK Sensex soars 282.48 points to end at 36,548; Nifty up 75 pts MUMBAI:
Benchmark Sensex defied gravity for the fifth straight session to close at a fresh lifetime high on Thursday as investors poured money into energy and financial shares amid a robust start to the earnings season.
The 30-share Sensex surged 282.48 points to end at 36,548.41, while the broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the crucial 11,000level with a 75-point leap.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries spurted 4.42% to hit its all-time closing high, re-entering the $100 billion market cap club. The stock was the session’s biggest gainer on the Sensex.
An appreciating rupee, sustained buying by domestic and foreign institutional investors and an encouraging start to the earnings season spurred buying momentum, brokers said.
The 30-share barometer, after opening on a strong footing, gathered momentum to touch an all-time intra-day high of 36,699.53. However, it shed some ground on profit-booking, before finally finishing at 36,548.41, up by 282.48 points, or 0.78% — surpassing its previous record closing of 36,283.25 hit on January 29.
The gauge has now gained 973.86 points in five sessions.
The broader NSE Nifty index touched a high of 11,078.30 before ending at 11,023.20, up 74.90 or 0.68%. This is its highest closing since January 31, when it had ended at 11,027.70.
Meanwhile, foreign funds bought shares worth a net of ₹636.27 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth ₹15.33 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed.
“Market maintained its upward streak in expectation of earnings growth and decline in oil prices. Besides, the prospects of trade talks between the US and China influenced global peers to rebound after the recent sell off. Oil price declined to recent low while rupee appreciated easing the concern of an expected rise in June CPI inflation to 5.29%,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
Shares of oil marketing companies and airlines jumped after crude oil prices posted their biggest one-day drop in two years. Bharat Petroleum Corp. surged 2.61%, Hindustan Petroleum Corp 1.53% and Indian Oil Corp. gained 1.10%. Interglobe Aviation Ltd rose by 4.70% and Jet Airways gained 1.80%. Other gainers on the Sensex included Wipro 2.44%, L&T 1.94%, HDFC Ltd 1.74%, SBI 1.49%, HUL 1.46%, ICICI Bank 1.32%, IndusInd Bank 1.07% and Yes Bank 0.93%, among others.
On the other hand, Vedanta declined 3.05%, Infosys 1.95%, Bajaj Auto 1.66%, M&M 1.40%, Hero Motocorp 1.20%, Adani Ports 1.04%, Tata Motors 0.50%, Bharti Airtel 0.48%, Maruti Suzuki 0.44%, TCS 0.43% and Power Grid 0.30%.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Energy gained the most by rising 3.07%, followed by oil and gas 1.60%, bankex 0.92%, capital goods 0.69%, PSU 0.40%, FMCG 0.35% and healthcare 0.17%. Realty lost the most at 1.14%, auto 0.77%, IT 0.58%, metal 0.52%, power 0.39%, infrastructure 0.11% and consumer durables 0.09%.
Broader markets showed a weak trend, with the BSE midcap index falling 0.52% and small-caps losing 0.06%.
In global markets, Asian stocks and commodities recovered, even as global trade headwinds remain. Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.16%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.60%, while Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.17% higher.
In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.58% and Paris CAC gained 0.65% in their late morning deals. London’s FTSE too gained 0.73%. US stocks, however, fell on Wednesday amid renewed tensions over global trade and geopolitics. The US Dow Jones Industrial Avge ended 0.88% lower.