Sensex closes above 60K for 2nd session, Nifty scales new peak of 17,855

Benchmark indices closed at record highs, led by gains in banking and auto shares. While Sensex ended 29 points higher at 60,077, Nifty closed at its record peak of 17,855, rising 2 points against the previous close.

During the day, Sensex touched an all-time high of 60,412. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms closed at Rs 261.09 lakh crore.

Maruti was the top Sensex gainer, rising 6.53% per cent, followed by gains in M&M, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, RIL and HDFC Bank. HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv and Infosys were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 4.58 per cent.

Of 30 Sensex shares, 13 ended higher. BSE midcap and small cap indices rose 1 points and slipped 35 points, respectively.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd said, "The short-term trend is still positive. For day traders, the 17,900 levels could be the immediate hurdle, and below the same, the correction wave could continue up to 17750-17710 levels. On the flip side, if the Nifty moves above 17,900, the uptrend continuation formation is likely to continue up to 17,950-18,000 levels."

On the sectoral front, auto and banking shares led the gains with the BSE auto index ending 729 points higher at 24,204 and bankex closing 338 points higher at 43,583. On the other hand, IT shares were the top losers with the BSE IT ending 835 points lower at 35,243.

Healthcare shares also led to losses with their  BSE index slipping 300 points to 25,906. Market breadth was negative with 1,635 shares ending higher against 1718 shares closing in the red.

On September 25, Sensex closed above the 60,000-mark for the first time, led by gains in information technology (IT) and realty stocks. While Sensex ended 163 points higher at 60,048, Nifty closed at its record peak of 17,853, climbing 30 points against the previous close.

Meanwhile, the rupee weakened by 15 paise to close at 73.83 against the US dollar today as a stronger greenback against key rivals and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened on a weak note at 73.70 and slid to the day's lowest level at 73.84 a dollar towards the fag-end of the session.