Sensex, Nifty run up to a new peak, PSBs in cruise mode

Market found itself conquering a fresh peak for the fourth session today, with the Sensex jumping 109 points, as state-owned lenders extended a rally and earnings optimism played out.

The surge in buying interest took the 50-share Nifty above 10,350 at the close.

The PSB stocks have been on a roll, especially since last last week, driven by the government's mega Rs 2.11-lakh crore recapitalisation plan and encouraging quarterly earnings by more blue-chip companies.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rallied to a new all-time intra- day high of 33,340.17, surpassing its previous record of 33,286.51 hit on October 27. But it lost ground due to profit-booking and settled at a new closing peak of 33,266.16, up 108.94 points, or 0.33 per cent. The previous record close was 33,157.22 on Friday.

In six days, the index has gained 876.19 points.

For the NSE Nifty too, the intra-day reading was a new high of 10,384.50, bettering its record of 10,366.15 on Friday. However, it closed at 10,363.65, still a new high, up by 40.60 points, or 0.39 per cent. In the process, it went past the earlier record of 10,343.80 reached on October 26.

"Strengthening rupee and affirming signs of recovery in domestic earnings season continued to lift the market. Infra, PSU banks and auto stocks are performing well due to the stimulus package and likely good sales data due to festival demand," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd. "On the global front, market participants are likely to stay conservative ahead of the two-day FOMC meeting from tomorrow."

Domestic energy stocks lived it up, with Brent crude soaring to its highest level since July 2015, after Saudi Arabia agreed to support the extension of a global oil production cut agreement.

Lupin stirred up maximum interest as it was the best performing stock by surging 2.67 per cent to Rs 1,027.55 despite a 31.3 per cent decline in consolidated net profit for the September quarter. It was followed by ONGC, up 1.69 per cent, at Rs 186.65 after the company reported a higher-than- expected 3.1 per cent rise in earnings.

India's largest public lender State Bank of India rose 0.37 per cent to Rs 312.10 while Punjab National Bank gained 3.92 per cent to Rs 203.95 on hopes that the government's capital infusion will help them clean up their balancesheets.

Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Bank of Maharashtra all rose by up to 8.15 per cent.

A mixed trend prevailed at other Asian markets. European shares were in the green ahead of this week's central bank decision in Japan and the US.

So far, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have been supporting the ongoing rally by pumping in sizeable money into the market. DIIs bought shares to the tune of Rs 56.57 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 640.95 crore last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

On the sectoral map, consumer durables stayed in the lead by surging 2.39 per cent, followed by realty index, oil and gas and infra.

FMCG and metal indices were at the receiving end of profit-booking as they fell.

The market rally lifted the small-cap index by 1.25 per cent and mid-cap 1.13 per cent.