NEW DELHI: Riding on the optimism of exit poll outcomes, which predicted a victory for the BJP-led NDA,
Nifty logged fresh highs at the open.
Sensex too followed suit and hit an all-time high level of 39,571.73.
The 50-pack index hit a new high of 11,883.55. After Monday's breakneck rally, traders are betting on Nifty surging as much as 3 per cent before the general election results are out on Thursday. Bank Nifty also hit a new record.
However, the market pared its morning gains on the back of profit booking at higher levels. The investors judged the recent strong rally as unwarranted.
At around 9:50 am, Sensex was trading at 39,425.91, up 73 points or 0.19 per cent while its NSE counterpart Nifty was up 12 points or 0.10 per cent at 11,840.
Investors would keep an eye on stocks of
Tech Mahindra, Jindal Steel, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Bosch, DLF, IFCI, KEI Industries, Bharat Financial which will report their March quarter results today.
In the 30-pack Sensex, 16 stocks were in the green while 14 were in the red.
HDFC was the biggest gainer, up around 2 per cent. Other gainers were RIL (up 1.30 per cent),
Coal India (up 1.13 per cent), Bajaj Finance (1.12 per cent) and
Bajaj Auto (0.91 per cent).
BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap sulked, shedding 0.47 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively.
BSE Sectoral index was a mixed bag with nearly half of the sectors in the red. BSE Auto was the biggest loser, down over 1 percent led by Tata Motors. Shares of
Tata Motors declined 5 per cent as its March quarter profit nearly halved from a year ago. Despite this, India’s largest automobile company by revenue beat Street estimates of net income, with the UK subsidiary JLR rebounding into the black after three quarters.
BSE Healthcare was the top gainer, up 0.73 per cent.
Meanwhile,
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade but stayed close to a four-month low touched on Friday. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.5 per cent.