Sensex zooms 460 points to record high, Nifty ends at 18,477; metal, IT shares lead gains

Indian equity market extended its winning streak to the seventh session today, tracking heavy buying in banking, IT and metal stocks despite a weak trend in global markets.

Sensex ended 459.64 points or 0.75 per cent higher at its new closing record of 61,765.59, while Nifty surged 138.50 points or 0.76 per cent to its all-time closing high of 18,477.05.

During the session, Sensex touched a lifetime high of 61,963.07 and Nifty hit a record high of 18,543.15.

Infosys was the top Sensex gainer rising up to 4.47 per  cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, ITC, Maruti, SBI and Axis Bank.

HCL Tech, M&M, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Bharti Airtel were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.36 per cent.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 17 closed higher.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached a record high of Rs 274.69 lakh crore. The market breadth was positive, with 1,758 shares ending higher against 1,696 shares closing in the red. 170 shares were unchanged.   

The BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose by 252 points and 207 points, respectively.

On the sectoral front, metal, IT and consumer durables shares led the gains on BSE with the BSE metal index rising 926 points, IT index zooming 693 points and the BSE consumer durables index gaining 421 points.

"The domestic market traded at record highs withstanding the weak trends in the global market due to disappointing Chinese GDP numbers and global inflationary pressure as a result of energy shortage," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Chinese GDP grew by just 4.9 per cent during the July-September quarter owing to lower-than-expected growth in industrial activity. However, the trend in the Indian market was bullish as PSU banks, metals, IT and energy stocks took charge of the rally, he added.

Sensex has gained 54.48 per cent or 21,782 points and Nifty has zoomed 57.09 per cent or 6,714 points in one year. Since the beginning of the year, Sensex has climbed 29.35 per cent or 14,014 points and Nifty has risen 4,495 points or 32.15 per cent.

Meanwhile, rupee ended 9 paise lower at 75.35 against the US dollar, tracking stronger greenback against key rivals overseas and rising global crude oil prices.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened on a steady note and later traded in a narrow range of 75.24 to 75.38 against the American currency.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 75.26 against the US dollar. The forex market was closed on Friday for Dussehra' holiday.

Global markets

Germany's DAX declined 0.5 per cent to 15,506.11 and the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 0.8 per cent to 6,676.21. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.2 per cent to 7,216.79.

The future for the Dow industrials was 0.2 per cent lower, while the future for the S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite index inched 0.1 per cent lower to 3,568.14, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong recovered from earlier losses, gaining 0.3 per cent to 25,409.75.