Mumbai. The local stock markets continued to rise on Wednesday as buying in information technology (IT) stocks amid favorable global trends. While the Sensex gained 70 points, the Nifty rose marginally to a new all-time high of 25,052 points.
Traders said that the recent inflow of foreign capital and the softening of crude oil prices globally also strengthened investors’ sentiment. The BSE benchmark index Sensex, based on 30 stocks, closed with gains for the seventh consecutive day. The Sensex closed at 81,785.56 points, up 73.80 points or 0.09 percent. At one point during trading, it rose 327.5 points to reach 82,039.26 points.
The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty managed to gain for the 10th consecutive session. It closed at a new record level of 25,052.35 points, up 34.60 points or 0.14 percent. During trading, the Nifty rose 111.85 points to reach a new peak of 25,129.60 points during the day.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The high valuation of the market remains a hindrance in the near term. The first quarter economic growth data coming this week will test it once again. On the other hand, investors are preferring to make defensive bets.” Among the Sensex companies, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel were the biggest gainers.
On the other hand, shares of Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement closed with a decline. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.04 percent while the Smallcap fell 0.12 percent. Among the sectoral indices, the technology sector jumped 1.31 percent while the IT sector rose 1.24 percent.
Vikram Kasat, head of consulting at Prabhudas Lilladher firm, said, “Nifty failed to maintain the gains made in the afternoon session and closed almost flat. Despite this, Nifty made a new record above the important support level of 25,000 points.” In other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei were on the rise while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined.
Most of the European markets were trading in the positive zone. US markets closed with a slight gain on Tuesday.
According to stock market data, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 1,503.76 crore on Tuesday while DIIs sold shares worth Rs 604.08 crore. Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.82 percent to $78.90 per barrel. The BSE Sensex closed almost flat at 81,711.76 points on Tuesday with a marginal gain of 13.65 points and the Nifty closed 7.15 points higher at 25,017.75 points.