Mumbai: The Nifty crossed a new milestone to close at a record high of 10,153 on Monday and the Sensex surged 151 points to six-week high, driven by stronger rupee and revival of buying interest of foreign investors amid abundant liquidity. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to back the rally, along with positive leads from global markets.
Asian markets logged healthy gains and European shares jumped to a higher opening, tracking Wall Street hitting fresh highs on Friday ahead of this week’s US interest rate call and cooling North Korea tensions, traders said.
The NSE Nifty closed at 10,153.10, up 67.70 points, or 0.67%, after shuttling between 10,171.70 and 10,131.30. It broke previous record closing of 10,114.65 hit on 1 August. It also breached the intra-day record of 10,137.85 reached on 2 August. Reflecting the positive mood, the NSE bank Nifty breached the 25,000 mark to hit all-time time of 25,105.35, helping the broader Nifty scale a new high.
The BSE Sensex also pushed higher by 151.15 points, or 0.47%, to end at 32,423.76, its highest closing since 2 August when it settled at 32,476.74. During the day, it touched a high of 32,508.06. The gauge had gained 610.64 points in the previous seven straight sessions.
“Market advanced and touched another historic high on firm global cues. Strength in the rupee and a gradual pick-up in FII buying has increased liquidity in the market. On the other hand, focus has now shifted to tomorrow’s Fed policy meet,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd. With Monday’s jump, market capitalisation—measured in terms of investors’ wealth—stood at Rs136.7 trillion.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates untouched after the two-day policy meeting this week, beginning tomorrow. Investors are also keenly looking for any announcement for trimming of the balance sheet. Revival of buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who had been major sellers for a long spell on the Indian bourses, accelerated the buying pace, helping the benchmark Nifty scale new highs.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs125.55 crore while FPIs bought equities of Rs418.86 crore on Friday, showed provisional data. The rally was broad-based, with capital goods, auto, technology, power and banking stocks making hay.
Broader markets also put up a good show, with small-cap index soaring to a life high by surging 0.87% to 16,833.58 and mid-cap gaining 0.73% at 16,089.94 on continuous buying by investors. Auto shares were buyers’ radar on expectations of bumper sales during the upcoming festive season. Bajaj Auto was the star among Sensex components, rallying 3.57%, to Rs3,129.80.
Other bright spots include Hindustan Unilever, Larsen and Toubro, Coal India, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s and Hero MotoCorp, rising by up to 2.77%. Stock of consumer electronics manufacturer Dixon Technologies made a spectacular debut on the bourses, climbing 63.81% to Rs2,892.80 after hitting a high of Rs3,020.25 against the issue price of Rs1,766. The BSE capital goods counter sectorally hummed the most, with a rise of 1.47%, followed by consumer durables, auto and banking.