The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE index Nifty closed at new peaks on Friday on heavy buying in consumer durables, TECk and realty stocks owing to strong global cues and continued foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex closed higher by 184.21 points or 0.54 per cent at 34,153.85, while the broader NSE index ended up by 54.05 points or 0.51 per cent at 10,558.85. Both indexes gained nearly 0.3 per cent on week.

The 30-share Sensex, after opening on a strong footing, continued its upward march to hit an all-time high of 34,188.85, breaking its previous (intraday) record of 34,137.97 hit on December 27. The NSE Nifty also hit a record intraday high of 10,566.10

Asian shares inched closer to a record high after a report released on Thursday showed US private employers added higher-than-expected 250,000 jobs in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sailed past the 25,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite notched record closing highs.

Barring oil & gas and PSU, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the positive zone. Among them, consumer durables index gained the most by 1.25 per cent, followed by TECk 0.89 per cent, realty 0.75 per cent and FMCG 0.74 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas index was down 0.39 per cent and PSU 0.24 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were YES Bank (+5.03%), Adani Ports (+3.71%), Bharti Airtel (+3.36%), IndusInd Bank (+3.17%) and Dr Reddy's (+2.4%), while the major losers were ONGC (-0.83%), ICICI Bank (-0.7%), State Bank of India (-0.6%), Wipro (-0.56%), Sun Pharma (-0.39%).

Banking stocks rose after the Lower House of Parliament approved the government's plan to inject Rs 80,000 crore ($12.62 billion) into the sector as part of its recapitalisation plan.

YES Bank was the top percentage gainer. The Nifty PSU Bank index climbed as much as 1.1 per cent after Thursday's 2.7 per cent rise. Metal stocks also rose with the Nifty Metal index adding as much as 1.7 per cent to hit a record high for a third straight session.

Rupee hits over 2-1/2 year high

Domestic sentiment was also buoyed as the rupee appreciated to over 2-1/2 year high of 63.31 against the dollar (intraday).

Brokers said improved liquidity in the market following continuous foreign fund inflows and increased buying by domestic institutional investors after the government moved forward on its bank recapitalisation programme boosted the trading sentiment.

The Finance Ministry had yesterday sought Parliament’s nod for extra expenditure of Rs 80,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks through bonds.

As per provisional data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 212.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth Rs 325.24 crore yesterday.

Asian shares

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent in early trade, with the benchmark index in Australia and South Korea both up about 0.5 per cent. The MSCI index was about 1 per cent off the all-time peak it hit in November 2007 of 591.5. Japan's Nikkei also gained 0.5 per cent to a 26-year high.

The Dow industrials broke above the 25,000 level for the first time on Thursday and other major indexes hit closing record highs again, propelled by strong global economic data that extended the New Year's rally for the stock market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.45 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 25,075.13, the S&P 500 gained 10.93 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 2,723.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 12.38 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 7,077.92.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW