Sensex stays put at 9k, finally

Investors' wealth hit a record Rs 24,05,029cr.

The BSE Sensex finally stayed put at over 9,000 points to create history on Friday on renewed buying in blue-chip stocks. The 30-share index surged 160.97 points to close at a life-time high of 9,067.28.

The S&P CNX Nifty also ended the day at an all-time high of 2,756.45, up 49.75 points. Investors' wealth also hit a new all-time high of Rs 24,05,029 crore.

While buying interest was spread across counters, market sentiments were given a lift by the Bombay High Court ruling which approved the demerger scheme of private sector behemoth Reliance Industries.

The rise in the Sensex was in sync with the global trend as most Asian markets ended on Friday with gains. Japan's Nikkei finished the day up 1.5 per cent at 15,404.05, while the Singapore Straits Times Index added 0.7 per cent to 2,321.10. Taipei's weighted index gained 0.2 per cent to 6,264.36 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.21 per cent to 14,910.51.

According to VK Sharma, head of research at Anagram Stock Broking, 9,058 was a key resistance level for Sensex. "The fact that the index failed to cross this level and the uncertainty over the Reliance demerger were holding back domestic investors. With these two factors out of the way, the markets should witness buying interests going forward," said Sharma.

Market analysts also noted that traditionally foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were expected to continue buying Indian stocks in December although the inflows might not be very high. FIIs have been net sellers in Indian equities over the past two sessions.

"I don't think cumulative inflows are going to cross the $10-billion mark this year, as generally expected. Though FIIs have pumped in $8.9 billion so far this year, it is going to fall short," said another broker.

R Sree Sankar, head of research at IL&FS Investsmart, noted that Indian stock valuations were looking slightly stretched at these levels. However, considering the economic growth potential of India compared with other emerging markets, there was no need for concern, he pointed out.

Among the Sensex stocks, 27 ended up in positive territory. Bhel (up 4.13 per cent at Rs 1,441.30), TCS (up 4.13 per cent at Rs 1,686.25), Reliance Energy (up 4.01 per cent at Rs 656.05), Hero Honda (up 3.69 per cent at Rs 854.65) and Bajaj Auto (up 3.40 per cent at Rs 2082.25) were the main gainers.

Only three Sensex stocks ended the day in the red. The list of losers includes Gujarat Ambuja Cements (down 0.43 per cent at Rs 82), Cipla (down 0.22 per cent at Rs 426.10) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.08 per cent at Rs 923).

The broad-based rally was evident from the fact that all sectoral indices ended the day with gains. The BSE consumer durable index posted maximum gains, up 2.01 per cent for the day, followed by the BSE auto index (up 1.96 per cent) and the BSE teck index (up 1.88 per cent).

Advances far outpaced declines at the BSE.

While 1,632 stocks ended up in positive territory, 851 declined and 75 remained unchanged. The total turnover at the BSE amounted to Rs 4,315.92 crore, up from Thursday's Rs 3,371 crore.