Another fresh high on Dalal St

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex rose by 443 points to close at a new record high, while Nifty settled above the 24,100 mark on Monday on buying in banking and IT shares in line with gains in Asian and European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded by 443.46 points or 0.56 per cent to close at an all-time high of 79,476.19 points. During the day, the barometer soared 528.27 points or 0.66 per cent to 79,561 points. As many as 20 Sensex shares closed higher, while 10 stocks declined. The broader Nifty rose by 131.35 points or 0.55 per cent to close at a fresh lifetime high of 24,141.95. Intra-day, the index hit a high of 24,164, just 10 points short of its lifetime high of 24,174 hit on Friday. Sensex and Nifty had hit intra-day record high levels on Friday, but closed lower due to profit-taking in blue-chips.

“The domestic market sustained its upward momentum, with a reduction in US PCE inflation raising hopes for a rate cut by the US Fed in September. This optimism contributed to the strong performance of IT stocks,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms hit a new record high of Rs4,43,05,344.36 crore ($5.31 trn)

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap and midcap indices raced to record high levels. Smallcap gauge jumped 1.58 per cent and the midcap index climbed 1.11 per cent.

“The consistent buying interest on dips suggests bullish control, likely continuing the current tone. The renewed strength in midcap and smallcap segments adds further positivity,” said Ajit Mishra, SV-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Among the indices, IT soared 1.84 per cent, teck jumped 1.46 per cent, commodities (1.21%), telecommunication 1.03 per cent, industrials (0.95%) and metal (0.73%). Utilities, power and realty were the laggards. A total of 2,656 stocks advanced while 1,346 declined and 144 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Among Sensex shares, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services, JSW Steel, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers. NTPC, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

India's manufacturing sector output increased at a sharp pace in June as new business continued to flow in amid favourable demand conditions and resulted in record upturn in employment, an HSBC PMI survey showed. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled higher. European markets were trading with gains.