Sensex, Nifty scale new lifetime highs on FII buying, better Q1 show

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 529.03 points or 0.80 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,589.93

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty rallied for a third day in a row to close at fresh lifetime high levels on Monday following buying in banking and oil stocks and FII inflows.

Analysts said the first quarter results by Indian companies have been mostly in line with expectations, triggering a rally in local equities despite mixed global cues.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 529.03 points or 0.80 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,589.93.

During the day, it climbed 595.31 points or 0.90 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 66,656.20. As many as 18 Sensex shares closed in the green while 12 declined. The NSE Nifty also soared by 146.95 points or 0.75 per cent to close at a new record high of 19,711.45. During the day, it rallied 167.35 points or 0.85 per cent to its record intra-day high of 19,731.85.

From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India rose the most by 2.82 per cent. Gains in Wipro, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank helped the index closed at record levels.

HDFC Bank climbed 2 per cent after the company reported a 29.13 per cent jump in consolidated net profit for the June quarter at Rs 12,370.38 crore.

Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Titan and JSW Steel were among the laggards.

“Despite the mixed performance observed in the Asian market due to China’s underwhelming GDP data, the Indian market exhibited resilience, in anticipation of a bumper Q1 result,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

“The sharp surge in the banking index after a pause in the IT pack reaffirms our bullish view and we are eyeing Nifty to gradually inch towards a new milestone i.e. 20,000 mark,” Ajit Mishra, SVP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.85 per cent and the midcap index advanced 0.29 per cent.

Among the indices, bankex jumped 1.45 per cent, financial services climbed 1.11 per cent, healthcare (0.81 per cent), commodities (0.72 per cent), energy (0.62 per cent) and oil & gas (0.38 per cent). Telecommunication, auto and realty were the laggards.

Market breadth was positive as of the total 3,856 stocks traded, 2,068 stocks advanced and 1,606 declined while 182 scrips closed unchanged on BSE. As many as 288 stocks hit their 52-week highs in the record rally while 18 stocks hit their upper circuit limits.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,636.43 crore, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in negative territory. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.62 per cent to USD 78.58 a barrel. The rupee also rebounded by 12 paise to 82.05 against the US dollar on foreign fund inflows and a correction in crude oil prices.