Diwali in D-Street: Sensex, Nifty hit record highs

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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Oct, 2017
Only a few ahead of Diwali, better-than-expected macroeconomic data boosted investors' sentiment thus enabling key Indian equity indices scale high levels and close at record highs on Monday.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 63.40 points, or 0.62 per cent higher, at 10,230.85 points.

The Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 32,488.23 points, closed at 32,633.64 points, higher by 200.95 points or 0.62 per cent from Friday's close at 32,432.69 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 32,687.32 points and a low of 32,445.43 points during the day's trade.

"Markets rallied further on Monday to close with gains (though small) for the third consecutive session. Nifty closed up 0.62 per cent. Positive sentiments in Asian bourses and record closing on the Wall Street last week aided the Indian markets," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC securities told IANS.

"Positive trade data and encouraging comments from the IMF chief on the outlook for Indian economy also boosted investor sentiments," he added.

Cooling of food prices helped ease India's annual rate of inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in September to 2.6 per cent, official data showed on Monday.

According to data released by the Commerce Ministry, the WPI, with the revised base year of 2011-12, eased from 3.24 per cent in August. The wholesale inflation rate was at 1.36 per cent during Sepetember 2016.

"The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of 'Food Articles' from Primary Articles group and 'Food Product' from Manufactured Products group decreased from 4.41 per cent in August to 1.99 per cent in September," the statement said.

"The benchmark indices pared some gains after hitting fresh record highs on Monday with the Nifty50 scaling past 10,200 for the first time as Reliance Industries touched its fresh peak of Rs 891 after the company on Friday sprang a surprise by posting a profit of Rs 1,443 crore at the operating level. Asian markets advancing to a decade high also contributed to the gains," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

Good buying was observed in metal, healthcare and technology, media and entertainment (TECK) sectors, while selling pressure was seen in power sector.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE metal index moved up by 2.02 per cent, healthcare index got augmented by 1.24 per cent and TECK index rose by 1.23 per cent. However, power index dropped by 0.13 per cent.

Major Sensex gainers on Monday were: Bharti Airtel, up 4.96 per cent at Rs 453; Tata Motors Ltd - DVR, up 3.22 per cent at Rs 245.20; Mahindra & Mahindra, up 3.08 per cent at Rs 1367.30; and Tata Motors, up 2.85 per cent at Rs 436.55.

Major Sensex losers were: Axis Bank, down 1.65 per cent at Rs 520.70; Wipro, down 0.62 per cent at Rs 290.05; Maruti, down 0.31 per cent at Rs 7,847.50; and NTPC, down 0.28 per cent at Rs 175.45.