Mumbai: Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty crossed new milestones on Friday, riding on positive services industry activity data and more capital inflows.
Services sector activity in India expanded for the second consecutive month in October, driven up by rising new orders—the fastest pace since June—amid positive demand conditions, according to a monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index survey.
Global leads turned for the better after appointment of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the new chief of the US central bank and the unveiling of tax reforms by House Republicans in Washington. Earnings optimism among investors grew, too.
The 30-share BSE index firmed up to an all-time intra-day high of 33,733.71 on a flurry of buying before closing at a record 33,685.56, up 112.34 points, or 0.33%. The previous closing record was 33,600.27 hit on 1 November. On Thursday, the barometer had fallen 27.05 points.
The 50-share Nifty touched a fresh high of 10,461.70 during the day and settled up 28.70 points, or 0.28%, at 10,452.50, a new peak, surpassing its previous record of 10,440.50 on 1 November.
For the second straight week, the Sensex rose, notching up a significant gain of 528.34 points, or 1.59%. The Nifty was up 129.45 points, or 1.25%, during the week.
Interest rate-sensitive financial and realty stocks stood out. Punjab National Bank rose 5.07% after the state- owned lender reported a modest rise in quarterly net profit. Largest public lender SBI was the leader of the Sensex gainers’ pack, rising 3.19% to close at Rs325, followed by Tata Motors 2.78%. L&T, Axis Bank, ONGC and Cipla too chipped in. PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and Lupin, however, ended in the red.
According to provisional data released by the stock exchanges, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs1,032.88 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs456.51 crore on Thursday.
BSE capital goods index hit a home run, up 1.09%, followed by banking, PSU and realty. While the small-cap index added 0.49%, mid-cap dropped 0.07%.
Asian shares logged a mixed trend and Europe had a positive opening. Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday.