Foreign funds, tax data push key indices to scale new highs (Roundup)

Mumbai, April 5 : Healthy inflow of foreign funds, along with positive tax collection data and global cues elevated the Indian equity markets to close at new highs on Wednesday.

Healthy buying was witnessed in consumer durables, capital goods and automobile stocks as the two key indices again made new 52-week intra-day highs.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), after opening at a record high of 9,264.40 points, closed at 9,265.15 points -- up 27.30 points or 0.30 per cent.

The NSE Nifty made a new intra-day high of 9,273.90 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 29,996.03 points, closed at 29,974.24 points -- up 64.02 points or 0.21 per cent from the previous close at 29,910.22 points.

The Sensex touched another new 52-week high, crossing the 30,000-mark during intra-day trade. It touched a high of 30,007.48 points and a low of 29,817.69 points.

The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,987 advances and 936 declines.

"Markets zoomed higher to new highs driven by a rally in index heavyweights, ahead of the RBI's monetary policy meeting's outcome," Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS. 

"It was the third consecutive session of gains for the Nifty. The Sensex touched the crucial benchmark of 30,000 points during the intra-day, while the Nifty too hit a record intra-day high of 9,274 points, before closing below that mark."

The Indian rupee too strengthened by 15 paise to 64.88 against a US dollar from its previous close of 65.03 to a greenback.

In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased scrip worth Rs 340.13 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) divested scrip worth Rs 194.05 crore.

"Among the sectors, IT sector stocks faced resistance at higher due to profit booking and witnessed volatile trades," commented Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls on sector-specific movement.

"PSU banks, realty and metal remained top performing sectors on the positive side."

Besides, the S&P BSE consumer durables index augmented by 369.36 points, followed by the capital goods index, which surged by 259.51 points, and the automobile index, which rose by 241.77 points. 

On the other hand, the IT index fell by 81.41 points, the Teck (technology, media and entertainment) index slipped by 12.20 points, and the FMCG index was lower by 9.11 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: Adani Ports, up 4.50 per cent at Rs 357.25; Maruti Suzuki, up 4.40 per cent at Rs 6,339.40; Reliance Industries, up 3.19 per cent at Rs 1,414.90; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 2.18 per cent at Rs 1,696.85; and Hindustan Unilever, up 1.82 per cent at Rs 935.30.

Major Sensex losers were: HDFC, down 2.78 per cent at Rs 1,490.05; Coal India, down 1.69 per cent at Rs 290; Infosys, down 1.39 per cent at Rs 995.40; Asian Paints, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 1,080.45; and ITC, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 278.95.