Sensex, Nifty at record high; RIL, HDFC Bank stocks fuel rally

Mumbai, July 24 (IANS): Healthy quarterly results, coupled with intense buying activity witnessed in index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries (RIL), ITC and Infosys, lifted the key Indian equity indices — the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty — to record highs on Monday.
The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 51.15 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at a fresh high of 9,966.40 points, after it touched a record high of 9,982.05 points during intra-day trade.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, too, closed at a new high of 32,245.87 points — up 216.98 points, or 0.68 per cent. It touched a record intra-day high of 32,320.86 points.
However, the BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,413 declines and 1,303 advances.
In terms of the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap index both rose by 0.27 per cent.
“Markets began the week on a positive note as it surged higher to close at new highs despite softness in Europe. The gains in the Nifty were supported by impressive gains in index pivotals HDFC Bank, RIL, ITC and Infosys,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
“A latest report from the International Monetary Fund, in which it projected India’s growth at 7.7 per cent in 2018 helped sentiments. The reported comments by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya that India is likely to clock a 7.5 per cent economic growth in FY2018 also helped,” Jasani added.
On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by nine paise to 64.34-35 to a US dollar from its previous close at 64.43-44.
In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 366.84 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 668.87 crore.
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, the benchmark indices settled the day on record closing highs as investors remained optimistic on June corporate results.
“Markets also shrugged off the global weakness with Asian markets ending mixed. Nifty50 index closed at less than 50 points away from hitting the crucial 10,000-mark,” Desai said.
“The rally was broad-based as more than 100 stocks on the BSE surged to fresh 52-week highs on the BSE which include names like Sundaram Finance, RIL, HCL Technologies, Saregama, Wipro, Hindalco, Tinplate, Manappuram Finance, and Jindal Saw, among others.”
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE banking index rose by 138.56 points, the IT index by 107.96 points and the FMCG index by 96.36 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE metal index fell by 70.28 points, the healthcare index by 62.75 points and the realty index by 4.01 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Monday were: Bharti Airtel, up 2.20 per cent at Rs 420.20; RIL, up 1.89 per cent at Rs 1,616.10; Wipro, up 1.89 per cent at Rs 291.80; HDFC Bank, up 1.83 per cent at Rs 1,734.55; and Tata Consultancy Services, up 1.68 per cent at Rs 2,532.65.
Major Sensex losers were: Dr. Reddy’s Lab, down 2.44 per cent at Rs 2,692.40; Axis Bank, down 1.09 per cent at Rs 534.30; Tata Steel, down 0.93 per cent at Rs 547.45; Sun Pharma, down 0.92 per cent at Rs 571.30; and ONGC, down 0.82 per cent at Rs 163.20.