Taking Stock | Market closes at record high for 2nd straight day on COVID vaccine hopes

Progress on the development of a coronavirus vaccine helped the indices to close at record high for the second straight session on November 10. The BSE Sensex added 680.22 points or 1.60 percent to close at 43,277.65, while Nifty was up 170.10 points or 1.37 percent at 12,631.10.

"The existing momentum can sustain on vaccine development, domestic stimulus package, consistent FII inflows and bounce in globalisation post Joe Biden's victory in the US elections. However, temporary correction due to profit-booking cannot be ruled out because the market is highly optimistic that the vaccine development will rapidly improve the ground reality," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial services.

Among sectors, the Nifty Bank rose 3.9 percent, Nifty Infra Index added 2 percent and Nifty Energy index was up 1.4 percent.

Broader markets underperformed the main indices with the BSE midcap ended flat, while smallcap index was down 0.48 percent.

Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC were among the top gainers on the Nifty while losers were Cipla, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Divis Labs and Nestle.

Stocks & sectors

Sectorally, BSE Healthcare and IT shed over 3 percent each, while BSE Bank and Capital Goods gained 3 percent each and Oil & Gas and Realty index added 2 percent each.

A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in Gail, ONGC and GMR Infra.

Long buildup was seen in RBL Bank, LIC Housing Finance and Interglobe Aviation while short buildup was seen in Muthoot Finance, Apollo Hospital and Manappuram Finance.

More than 100 stocks hit a fresh 52-week high today on the BSE, including Orchid Pharma, KPR Mills and Tata Communications.

Technical View

The Nifty formed a Bullish candle with long lower shadow on daily scale which indicates bulls are holding the tight grip in the market.

Nifty continued its higher high - higher lows formation for six straight sessions and recently rallied by more than 1,100 points from 11,535 to 12,643 marks in last seven trading sessions.

"Now it has to continue to hold above 12,430 zones to witness an up move towards 12,750 zones while on the downside major support exists at 12,300 and 12,222 zones," said Chandan Taparia of Motilal Oswal Financial Services told Moneycontrol.