Indian markets scaled new peaks on Tuesday as buying sentiment firmed up at metal and information technology (IT) counters at the bourses. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled near record high levels of 41,401.65, at 41,352.17-mark, up 413.45 points or 1.01 per cent. Select heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, and HDFC twins, which also hit record highs today, lifted the index along with metals stocks like Tata Steel and Vedanta.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 index closed at 12,165-mark, up 111 points or 0.92 per cent. The index, too, hit a fresh record high of 12,182.75 during the last trading hour. Among the key sectoral indices, Nifty Bank scaled lifetime high of 32,213.35 in the morning deals. At close, the index settled 0.57 per cent higher at 32,156.20 levels. Nifty Metal index, however, was the top performer, up nearly 3 per cent, while Nifty Realty index settled 0.35 per cent lower.
Shares of metal companies, mainly steel, were in focus on Tuesday with Nifty Metal index surging more than 3 per cent intra-day as analysts remain ‘overweight’ on Indian steel industry and see a likely consensus earnings upgrade cycle in sector major.
READ MORE In the broader market, small-caps fared better than mid-cap stocks. The S&P BSE small-cap index closed 0.66 per cent higher at 13,393.77 level, while the S&P BSE mid-cap index settled at 14,818.14 level, up 0.38 per cent.
GLOBAL CUES
Trade deal optimism, positive economic signals in China and Wall Street’s rally sent Asian shares to an 18-month high.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 per cent to its highest since June 2018. Japan's Nikkei touched its firmest in more than year, while markets from Shanghai to Seoul and Hong Kong all rose by more than a percentage point.
European shares paused after a record run on Tuesday as a sales warning from Unilever and concerns that Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson could take a hard stance on the transition period for Brexit dented UK stocks.
The FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 per cent, handing back gains after its strongest rally in nearly a year on Monday after reports that Johnson will use his control of parliament to outlaw any extension of the Brexit transition period beyond 2020. The UK's domestically-focused mid-cap index was down 1.1 per cent.
The broader European equities index , down 0.5 per cent, came off record highs. Consumer goods giant Unilever (ULVR.L) slid 5.9 per cent after it warned that 2019 sales would grow slightly below its expectations, citing tough trading conditions in West Africa and a slowdown in south Asia.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKETS: Indices end near record high, Sensex up 413 pts, Nifty tops 12,150")
