Sensex ends above 78K for first time, Nifty at record high; banking stocks top gainers

Sensex and Nifty ended at fresh record highs on Tuesday led by stellar gains in banking stocks. Sensex gained 712 pts to 78,053 and Nifty rallied 183 pts to close at 23,721. Sensex closed above 78,000 mark for first time. During the day, Sensex hit a record high of 78,164 and Nifty scaled a high of 23,754. However, market cap of BSE-listed firms was flat compared to the previous session as mid cap and small cap indices closed in the red. Market cap of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 435.77 lakh crore on Tuesday against the market cap of Rs 435.60 lakh crore on June 24.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, L&T and SBI led the gains on Sensex, rising up to 3.40%. India VIX rose 1.78% to 14.31, signaling a marginal rise in the market volatility in the current session.

As many as 312 stocks hit their 52-week highs today. On the other hand, 21 shares hit their 52-week lows on Tuesday. However, market breadth was negative in the current session.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said, "Nifty continues to rise on the back of strength in the banking giants. The Nifty moved above 23,700 to make a new all-time high of 23,754, showing resilience amid global sluggishness. Put writers were very active at 23,600 and 23,700, while call writers unwound their positions, causing the PCR to rise. In the short term, the trend might remain strong as long as it stays above 23,500. On the higher end, the index might continue moving towards 24,000 in the near term."

Of 4,000 stocks, 1,808 stocks ended in the green. Around 2,075 stocks ended in the red while 117 stocks remained unchanged.

Banking, capital goods and IT shares led the gains on Dalal Street today. BSE banking index climbed 1095 pts with capital goods and IT indices gaining 204 pts and 191 pts, respectively.

BSE midcap index fell 118 pts to 46,020 and the small cap index slipped 13 pts to 52,064 level.

Bank Nifty too surged 902 pts to close at a record 52,606 level. It crossed the 52,000 mark for the first time ever today.

On Nifty Bank, Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities said "The Bank Nifty index broke above the resistance of 52,000, where the highest open interest was built up on the call side. The index is trading in a strong uptrend with higher highs and higher lows intact on the daily chart. The support now stands at 52,000, and intraday dips should be viewed as a buying opportunity for targets of 53,000/53,500."

Previous session

Market ended marginally higher in the volatile session on June 24. Sensex closed 131.18 points higher at 77,341.08, and Nifty gained 36.70 points to 23,537.80.