Sensex up 248 points to close at lifetime high; Nifty above 18,400
Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex climbed 248 points to close at its all-time high of 61,872 on Tuesday, propped up by robust fag-end buying in banking and energy stocks amid a positive trend in global equities.
A strengthening rupee, encouraging domestic inflation data and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.
After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 61,872.99 -- surpassing its previous closing peak of 61,795.04 on November 11. During the day, the index witnessed a high of 61,955.96 -- its 52-week intraday high -- and a low of 61,436.90.
The broader NSE Nifty advanced 74.25 points or 0.41 per cent to finish at 18,403.40.
PowerGrid topped the Sensex gainers' chart, rising 2.20 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, SBI, Dr Reddy's, Titan, M&M and HDFC Twins.
In contrast, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Reliance, Sun Pharma and Nestle India were among the laggards, shedding up to 0.76 per cent. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.08 per cent and smallcap index ended marginally higher by 0.01 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, oil & gas climbed 0.99 per cent, telecommunication jumped 0.79 per cent, auto (0.75 per cent), bankex (0.70 per cent) and utilities (0.53 per cent). FMCG, industrials, capital goods, metal and realty were among the laggards.
Indicating easing of the price situation, retail inflation moderated to 6.7 per cent in October while the wholesale price index fell to a 19-month low mainly on account of subdued rates of food items.
The fall in consumer price index-based retail inflation to 6.77 per cent in October from 7.41 per cent in September has also brought some relief for the Reserve Bank which has been struggling to bring it below the upper tolerance level of 6 per cent since January this year.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with significant gains. Equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the positive territory in the afternoon session. Wall Street ended in negative territory on Monday.
The rupee appreciated by 37 paise to close at 80.91 against the US dollar on Tuesday, on encouraging inflation data and weak American currency.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.62 per cent lower at $91.63 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) became net sellers on Tuesday as they sold shares worth Rs 221.32 crore, as per exchange data. India's exports contracted by 16.65 per cent to $29.78 billion in October 2022 compared to the year-ago period, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday.
