The NSE benchmark Nifty advanced over 33 points to close at a fresh lifetime high of 20,103 while Sensex ticked higher for the tenth straight session on Thursday, helped by fag-end buying in oil & gas, metal and commodity stocks amid a largely firm trend in global equities.
After swinging between gains and losses throughout the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 52.01 points or 0.08% to settle at 67,519. During the session, it jumped 304.06 points or 0.45% to hit its all-time intra-day high of 67,771.05.
In the past 10 sessions, the BSE index has jumped 2,687.59 points or 4.14%.
The Nifty advanced 33.10 points or 0.16% to end at its all-time closing high of 20,103.10. During the day, it gained 97.65 points or 0.48% to reach its lifetime intra-day peak of 20,167.65.
“While the north-bound journey continued the uptick lacked the firepower as seen in recent sessions as valuations are becoming expensive and investors are taking a cautious route. Rising global crude oil prices are also making investors jittery as this could stoke inflation and force central banks worldwide to maintain the rate hike regime.”
“Despite early volatility and a range-bound trend thereafter, metals, oil & gas and realty shares sparkled, indicating that traders are willing to take selective bets,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.56%, followed by Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Power Grid, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement and L&T.
In contrast, Asian Paints, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.15%, and midcap index gained 1.02%.
All the indices ended in the green, with realty climbing 1.47%, oil & gas jumping 1.40%, metal (1.39%), commodities (1.09%), auto (0.94%), utilities (0.92%), energy (0.82%) and services (0.80%).
“Asian stocks rose on Thursday, as traders felt that a small upside surprise for U.S. inflation was unlikely to push up interest rates. European markets were mixed on Thursday as investors in the region waited on a crucial decision from the European Central Bank on whether to raise euro zone interest rates for a 10th straight meeting,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.
European equities were trading mostly in the green. The U.S. markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.
Wholesale price-based inflation remained in the negative territory for the fifth straight month in August at (-) 0.52%, but prices of food articles and fuel showed an uptick.
“The market traded range-bound after touching a new high as higher-than-expected U.S. inflation and anticipation of hawkish ECB policy meetings later today impacted investor sentiment. Concern over the valuation and inflation trajectory due to increasing oil prices may navigate the market into a consolidation phase in the near term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.56% to $92.39 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹1,631.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
The BSE benchmark had settled at 67,466.99, up 245.86 points or 0.37% on Wednesday. The broader Nifty ended above the 20,000 mark for the first time, rallying 76.80 points or 0.38% to 20,070, its all-time closing high.