The Indian equity benchmarks surged on Tuesday and closed at record highs paced by gains in banking, financial services and metal shares. The Sensex rose as much as 467 points and Nifty 50 index reclaimed its important psychological level of 16,600. Investor sentiment turned positive a day after the government announced National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) wherein the government said that infra assets worth Rs 6 lakh crore will be monetised across the rail, road and power sectors over 4 years.
The Sensex rose 403 points to close at record high of 55,959 and Nifty 50 index climbed 128 points to close at an all-time high of 16,625.
"It is going to be crucial for the Nifty to sustain above 16,600 from short-term perspective. Nifty is likely to gain momentum and go up to 16,700 levels," Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research told NDTV.
Buying was visible across sectors as sixteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE metal index's nearly 3 per cent gain. Energy, Banking, Financial Services, Capital Goods, Healthcare Industrial, Oil & Gas and Power indices rose between 1 to nearly 2 per cent.
On the other hand, FMCG and Information Technology indices closed lower.
Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed buying interest as S&P BSE MidCap index rose 1.52 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap index advanced 1.7 per cent.
Aptus Value Housing Finance made a weak debut on stock markets as the shares opened for trading at Rs 329.95 on the BSE, marking a discount of 6.53 per cent from the issue price of Rs 353.
Chemplast Sanmar shares made a lacklustre debut on the bourses. The shares of the specialty chemical company listed at Rs 525 on the BSE, 3 per cent discount compared to the issue price of Rs 541 per share.
Bajaj Finserv was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose nearly 8 per cent to hit record high of Rs 16,460 after the company received an in-principle approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for sponsoring a Mutual Fund. The company will set up an asset management company.
Hindalco, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Indian Oil, HDFC Bank, SBI Life, Cipla and State Bank of India also rose between 1.8-3.8 per cent.
On the flipside, Nestle India, Britannia Industries, Asian Paints, HDFC, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,149 shares ended higher while 1,026 closed lower on the BSE.
