Mumbai: Continuing its record-breaking run, the benchmark index Nifty breached the 7,900-mark for the first time ever, but failed to hold on to that level though it still managed to end at a fresh lifetime high on the back of robust foreign fund inflows and brisk buying on NSE on August 19. A strong rally in auto shares gave the bourse a boost along with firm buying in bank, healthcare, infra, energy, metal, FMCG and realty counters.
The 50-share index crossed 7,900 for the first time in history in early trade, driven by overall positive sentiment, but failed to maintain that level following profit-taking. It mostly traded in a tight range throughout the day before ending at a fresh high. Mid and small-cap scrips, too, witnessed heavy buying and outperformed the broader market. Barring technology, all sectoral indices ended in positive territory.
The bellwether index rose 23.25 points, or 0.30 per cent, to conclude at 7,897.50 after scaling a historic peak of 7,918.55 in intra-day trading. Also helping the investor sentiment across Asia was Wall Street's overnight upbeat performance bolstered by better -than-expected US housing data and easing concerns over geo- political tensions amid hopes for a consistent loose monetary policy. Other Asian emerging markets, too, ended at multi-month highs, while the European bourses also traded in the green in early hours. Stocks of state-owned oil marketing companies (OMC) were on a roll for the second day on falling crude prices and anticipation of deregulation of diesel prices.
Major index gainers included Tata Motors, M&M, ICICI Bank, L&T, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, SBIN, Dr Reddy's, Maruti, Sesa Sterlite, Grasim and Kotak Mahindra. HDFC, TCS, Hindalco, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, ITC, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, HUL and Reliance were key laggards. Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 17,133.86 crore from Rs 14,876.05 crore yesterday. A total of 8,927.73 lakh shares changed hands in 74,05,700 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 90,23,214 crore.
