Mumbai: After oscillating in a narrow range around the flat line, the BSE Sensex inched up higher for a second straight session to an over seven-month high, buoyed by arrival of monsoon rains in Kerala and continued foreign fund inflows following RBI’s accommodative policy.
Sentiment also got a boost after rupee continued its upward journey against the American unit at the forex market. Telecom stocks were in the limelight after the inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission backed lowering of spectrum usage charge to 3 per cent of their annual revenue from next auction.
Shares of Reliance Communications jumped 1.65 per cent to Rs 49.20 and Bharti Airtel climbed 0.93 per cent to Rs 352.40.
Defence stocks such as Walchandnagar, Reliance Defence, BEML and Bharat Electronics zoomed up to 10.86 per cent on hopes they may get new contracts after reports that India is all set to become member of Missile Technology Control Regime as all hurdles related to its membership have been cleared.
“However, by the end of the trading session, participants shrugged of positive developments to book profits and take money off the table,” said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager – Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
On the day, Sensex opened higher at 27,085.24 and moved between 27,105.41 and 26,973.71, before ending at 27,020.66, showing a moderate rise of 10.99 points or 0.04 per cent – its fresh highest closing since October 28.
The NSE Nifty inched higher by 6.60 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 8,273.05. The broader markets too traded in tune with the benchmark indices as the small-cap and mid-cap gained 0.89 and 0.52 per cent, respectively.
Barring IT, teck and healtchare, all the segments like power, capital goods, PSU, auto, realty, consumer durables, oil&gas, metal, FMCG and banking gained. Meanwhile, foreign investors bought shares worth a net Rs 499.73 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.
Globally Asian markets ended mixed with Japan’s Nikkei rising 0.93 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.14 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.30 per cent.
European shares fell at the start of trading as the ECB prepared to launch radical stimulus measures aimed at boosting economic growth in the struggling euro zone.
Back home, of the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 scrips ended higher. Major gainers were BHEL (1.80 pc), L&T (1.52 pc), ICICI Bank (1.48 pc), Hero MotoCorp (1.32 pc), ONGC (1.27 pc), Axis Bank (0.89 pc), Cipla (0.85 pc), Wipro (0.76 pc), Tata Motors (0.70 pc), M&M (0.50 pc), HDFC (0.44 pc), Maruti Suzuki (0.42 pc) and SBI (0.29 pc).
However, Infosys, Asian Paint, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, TCS, Dr Reddy’s, Coal India, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Lupin, NTPC and GAIL fell by up to 1.50 per cent.
Among the major indices, BSE Power rose by 1.77 per cent followed by capital goods 1.76 per cent, PSU 0.61 per cent, auto 0.44 per cent, realty 0.31 per cent, consumer durables 0.29 per cent, oil&gas 0.24 per cent, metal 0.14 per cent and banking 0.12 per cent.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,584 stocks ended higher, 1,048 finished in red while 162 ruled steady. The total turnover fell to Rs 2,535.88 crore from Rs 2,726.04 crore yesterday.
