Share Market News Highlights: Sensex hits record closing high, Nifty tops 18,400; PowerGrid, ONGC, ICICI Bank among top gainers

"The Bank Nifty bulls came back strong in the last half an hour of the session which scales the index to its new 52-week high level. The momentum going forwards continues to remain strong and the index is likely to test the level of 43,000-44,000 on the upside. The lower-end support is visible at 41,500 which will act as a cushion for the bulls. The PSU bank rally is likely to continue on the upside along with participation from the private banks," said Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

"The headline index Nifty remained volatile during the session. On the lower end, 18,300 acted as support on a sustained basis, whereas on the higher end, the index moved above 18,400. The trend remains positive for the short term, as the index closed above the 50 EMA (Exponential Moving Average). On the higher end, resistance is placed at 18,500/18,600. Support on the lower end is pegged at 18,250-18,300 zone," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

Sensex registered a record closing high of 61,873 today. The index touched an all-time intraday high of 61,956.

The overall market breadth stood slightly negative as 1,668 shares advanced while 1,841 declined on BSE. The market capitalization (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 285.22 lakh crore.

12 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto and Nifty Oil & Gas outperformed the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.70 per cent, 0.64 per cent and 0.73 per cent, respectively.

"Nifty is on the path to challenge the all-time high of 18,600 in coming sessions, followed by 18,900 in the near term," said Tirthankar Das, Technical & Derivative Analyst, Retail, Ashika Stock Broking Ltd.

Mid- and small-cap shares finished slightly higher as Nifty Midcap 100 edged 0.01 per cent higher and small-cap rose 0.26 per cent.

"Following gains in global equities, early losses in the domestic market were reversed with banking stocks steering the recovery. Food and commodity price declines have helped to keep domestic inflation below 7 per cent. Although the CPI has continued to remain above the RBI's tolerance limit of 6 per cent, it is estimated that it will begin to fall within the range from Q1 FY24," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

On the stock-specific front, PowerGrid was the top Nifty gainer as the stock soared 2.41 per cent to close at Rs 216.45. ONGC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp were also among the gainers. In contrast, HDFC Life, Grasim, Cipla, ITC and UPL were among the top laggards.

Sensex rises 249 points or 0.40 per cent to close at 61,873, Nifty moves 74 points 0.41 per cent higher to settle at 18,403

Shares of Gujarat Gas Ltd jumped 5.97 per cent to trade at Rs 513.50. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 514.25.

Shares of Balkrishna Industries surged 5.39 per cent to trade at Rs 1,977.40. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 1,981.80.

Sensex up 43 points or 0.07 per cent to trade at 61,667, Nifty moves 10 points or 0.05 per cent higher to trade at 18,339; bank, auto stocks climb

Shares of JK Tyre & Industries Ltd rose 3.43 per cent to trade at Rs 176.45. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs 181.90.

Shares of KSB Ltd jumped 6.31 per cent to trade at Rs 1,957.50. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 1,970.

Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd surged 7.77 per cent to trade at Rs 58.95. The stock touched an intraday high of -- also its 52-week high -- of Rs 59.80.

Shares of Apar Industries Ltd jumped 8.72 per cent to trade Rs 1,619.05. The stock touched an intraday high -- also its 52-week high -- of Rs 1,648.40.

Sensex slips 6 points or 0.01 per cent to trade at 61,618, Nifty moves 1 point or 0.01 per cent lower to trade at 18,328; ITC, Grasim, UPL, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life among top drags

Shares of NCC Ltd surged 5.13 per cent to trade at Rs 76.90. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 77.40.

Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd today said it secured an anchor investment of $500 million from a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for its real estate fund, a $1 billion platform targeting opportunistic real estate investments in India.