Sensex hits new high, Nifty closes above 9,800

Stocks set a record again on Wednesday as the benchmark Sensex went higher by 58 points to 31,805 and the Nifty closed above the 9,800 mark ahead of key macroeconomic data, lifted by banking, oil & gas and auto stocks.

Oil marketing companies soared on the back of higher crude oil prices. But investors were guarded ahead of the release of index of industrial production (IIP) for May and consumer price (CPI) inflation for June after market hours.

The next triggers are a set of corporate quarterly earnings, going to kick off on Thursday with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The BSE barometer ended at a new closing high of 31,804.82, up 57.73 points, or 0.18 per cent, as fag-end buying in heavyweights emerged. It had rallied 386.45 points in the previous two sessions. The 50-share Nifty ended up 30.05 points, or 0.31 per cent, at a new closing peak of 9,816.10. During the session, it shuttled between 9,824.95 and 9,787.70. Its previous closing high was 9,786.05 hit on Tuesday.

“The market started positively, but consolidated near its peak as investors took a wait and watch approach ahead of CPI and IIP data. Quarterly results and their impact to the current high valuation will be eagerly watched,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services. Reliance Industries, the biggest company by market capitalisation, rallied 1.02 per cent to hit a fresh nine-year high after its subsidiary Reliance Jio unveiled new tariff plans on Tuesday.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) led the gainers list in the Sensex heatmap by surging 2.04 per cent. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was up 1.59 per cent on reports that the proposed ONGC-HPCL deal will be completed by the end of 2017-18.

Other contributers were ICICI Bank, the SBI, Tata Motors, PowerGrid and NTPC.

However, the largest IT exporter, TCS fell 1.29 per cent ahead of its earnings.

Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 182.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors net purchased Rs 335.75 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data.

Stocks of liquor companies were back in demand after a favourable Supreme Court order on Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.64 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.48 per cent. Shanghai Composite shed 0.17 per cent.

In the euro zone, shares were higher as investors looked forward to the earnings report and monitored the latest political developments in the US.

Among sectoral indices, BSE oil and gas gained the most by rising 1.54 per cent, followed by PSU, banking and power.

In sync with the overall trend, broader markets showed firmness.