Mumbai: The NSE Nifty closed at a new peak of 10,234.45 in range-bound trade on Tuesday, continuing its record-setting run for the third session amid optimism over corporate earnings and strong buying by domestic investors. However, the BSE Sensex retreated from record levels as participants preferred to book profits.
Investors remained on the sidelines ahead of a long Diwali weekend amid anticipation of a correction in overbought counters, brokers said. The 50-issue Nifty, after a shaky start at 10,227.65, rallied to a fresh high of 10,251.85, breaching its previous intra-day record of 10,242.95 hit on Monday. But selling at higher levels dragged it to 10,212.60, before the index settled at a new peak of 10,234.45, up 3.60 points, or 0.04%. It broke its previous record close of 10,230.85 hit on Monday.
The BSE Sensex, after scaling a new intra-day high of 32,699.86 in early trade on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs), succumbed to profit booking and closed the day at 32,609.16, down 24.48 points, or 0.08%. It breached its previous intra-day record of 32,687.32 points hit in Monday’s trade.
“Market was volatile in a narrow range after the positive start to the earnings season as investors were a bit conservative in the holiday-shortened week. The true picture of the Q2 results will start to reflect post the holiday and investors are turning optimistic towards Samvat’74 with an expectation of revival in earnings growth,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs272.69 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs29.92 crore on Monday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
In the Sensex kitty, Cipla emerged as the top gainer by climbing 4.09%, followed by Bharti Airtel by 2.86%. Other gainers that supported the key indices were Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, HUL, TCS, L&T, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki, gaining by up to 2.06%.
The BSE telecom index was the top sectoral gainer, rising 2.77%, while realty rose 0.79%, oil & gas 0.74%, capital goods 0.43%, PSU 0.41%, healthcare 0.38%, metal 0.25% and power 0.17%. IT, bank and consumer durables indices ended in the red. Broader markets were in better form with smallcap and midcap indices rising 0.53% and 0.40%, respectively.
In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.38% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.02%. China’s Shanghai Index fell 0.19%. European markets were trading mixed in their early deals. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was up 0.02%, while Paris CAC 40 was down 0.05%. London’s FTSE edged higher 0.02%.