Sensex rises 160 pts to 34,101 level, Nifty above 10,450; TCS, Infy, Axis Bank top gainers

The Sensex rose for the sixth straight session to end above the key 34,000-level today, led by gains in IT, banking and capital goods stocks. Technology stocks rose after the rupee fell to a fresh five-month low. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technology and Tech Mahindra ended in the positive zone.

However, profit-booking was witnessed in realty, metal, healthcare, power and PSU counters.

TCS, Infosys and Axis Bank were top gainers on the Sensex.

VK Sharma, Head Private Client Group & Capital Market Strategy at HDFC Securities said, "The minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting show that policy makers discussed the need to tap on the brakes on the economy. The somewhat hawkish tone of the minutes didn't move markets much today, but it is becoming clear that the interest rates in US are headed higher, and that has implications on liquidity around the globe.

Institutional flows and technical cues for our markets are positive. Nifty has managed to surpass 50 and 100 day moving average resistances. Next resistance for the markets is near 10,560.  Infosys results due tomorrow will determine the short term direction for the IT stocks and Nifty in the short run."

The 30-share Sensex resumed higher and advanced to 34,177, but soon slipped on profit-taking to touch a low of 33,924. It finally closed 160.69 points, or 0.47 per cent, higher at 34,101.

The index marked its highest closing since February 28 today, when it had closed at 34,184.

The gauge gained 921 points in the previous five sessions.

The NSE 50-share index, after moving between 10,469 and 10,395, finally concluded at 10,458, up 41 points, or 0.40 per cent.

Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst, Technical and Derivatives at Angel Broking said, "For the coming session, 10478 would be the level to watch out for. Considering today's close, surpassing this level is clearly on cards. However, we would reiterate that the index is now about to enter a strong cluster of resistances and going by the higher time frames charts, we construe this recent move just as a relief rally.  Hence, now it's time for short term traders to start liquidating long positions in a gradual manner and should rather stay light with a stock specific approach. For the coming session, 10478 followed by 10535 has now become an immediate resistance zone; whereas on the downside, 10430 - 10395 would be seen as crucial supports. Clearly, the entire IT pack was the charioteer of today's move in the index. Hence, going ahead, a continuation of 'Nifty IT' towards its record highs of 13400 - 13534 would play a vital role in extending this relief rally in Nifty in the zone of 10500 - 10600."

The  Dish TV stock was among the top BSE gainers rising 8% after promoters made an open offer at price of Rs 74 per share. The stock logged the maximum turnover of Rs 694 crore on BSE.

Market breadth was negative with 1139 stocks closing higher against 1524 ending in the red on BSE. 154 stocks were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 362.30 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 111.82 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service today said the pick-up in economic growth in India is positive for asset-backed securities(ABS), as it supports the ability of borrowers to earn income and repay their loans.

Moody's expects that the Indian economy to grow at 7.6 per cent in 2018 compared to 6.2 per cent in 2017.