Sensex, Nifty settle at record closing highs; Nifty Bank ends above 25,000

All that happened in Monday's trade

The markets ended at fresh closing highs on Monday after the country's biggest lender, State Bank of India, rallied as it introduced a 2-tier savings bank interest rate, while investors awaited a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in its two-day policy meeting which begins on Tuesday.

Economists are divided on what action the RBI will take in its policy review that concludes on Wednesday. Of the 14 economists polled by Business Standard, five said there would be the status quo this time. In most cases where the economists said there would be a cut, they warned it was a close call. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

Meanwhile, the retail inflation rate is running well below RBI's target. It had eased to its slowest pace in over five years in June. 

4:06 PM

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services 

 

Good results from index heavyweights continue to add liquidity, while country’s largest PSU bank SBI's interest rate cut decision attracted investors to the banking stocks on expectations of more peers to follow the trend. Additionally, moderation in inflation to below RBI's target of 4% heightened the hopes of rate cut in the next monetary policy.

4:04 PM

Q1 Earnings

 

Tech Mahindra reported 34.3% sequential growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 791.8 crore against 589.7 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. The IT major's revenue growth in CC terms rose 2.1% to Rs 7336.1 crore, while dollar revenue growth came in at $1138 million, up 0.6% QoQ.

3:57 PM

HEATMAP: Top Sensex gainers and losers

Source: BSE

3:48 PM

Market breadth turns negative

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,425 shares fell and 1,255 shares rose. A total of 196 shares were unchanged.

3:46 PM

Broader markets trail behind 

 

The BSE Midcap index added 0.3%, while the BSE Smallcap gained 0.1% at close.

3:44 PM

Nifty PSU Bank (up 3.6%) was the leading sectoral gainer, led by gains in SBI (up 4.5%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.9%) and Punjab National Bank (up 2.4%). 

3:42 PM

Nifty Bank ends above 25,000 for first time ever

Source: NSE

3:37 PM

Markets end at record highs

 

The Sensex settled above 32,500 for the first time ever, while Nifty ended firmly above 10,050. At close, the Sensex quoted 32,514, up 205 points, while the Nifty50 was at 10,070, up 62 points. 

3:31 PM

Pharma index top sectoral loser; Lupin hits 52-week low 

 

Shares of pharmaceutical companies continued to trade under pressure with Nifty Pharma index down more than 1% for the third straight trading sessions after firms reported a disappointing set of numbers for the quarter ended June 2017 (Q1FY18). CLICK HERE FOR MORE

3:25 PM

Nifty Bank continues to trade above 25,000

The index is set for record closing high. SBI, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank top gainers.

3:12 PM

Some of the largest investors, intermediaries and issuers in Asia Pacific are confident of India's stable economic growth in the region of 6.5% and 7.5% over the next 12-18 months, Moody's Investors Service said in a statement on Monday. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

3:11 PM

Markets check

At 3:10 am, the Sensex was trading at 32,511, up 201 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,074, up 61 points. 

3:06 PM

Volatility index VIX surged 7% to 11.95. 

Source: NSE

2:45 PM

Global market update

European markets opened higher as investors awaited key economic data and digested earnings reports. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.33%, Germany's DAX gained 0.1%, while Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5%. France's CAC 40 was trading flat. 

 

Asian markets ended positive. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed early losses to rise 0.25%. Chinese shares rose, buoyed by several leading companies' forecasts for strong mid-year earnings. The blue-chip index and the Shanghai Composite both rose 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1% to a two-year high. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend to end 0.17% lower. 

2:21 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers

Source: BSE