Nifty climbs new highs, hits 8,400 pts

Indian markets continued their string of record closing highs as investors lapped up rate sensitive stocks on hopes of an interest rate cut with the benchmark Nifty gaining by 21 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) here today.
The bellwether Nifty even hit a new major milestone of 8,415 points in the morning trade, for a brief while.
Robust capital inflows as well as strong growth outlook in the backdrop of falling global commodity prices, predominantly bolstered investor sentiment.
Financials, auto and FMCG sectors witnessed heavy buying activity ahead of two crucial macro data like CPI inflation and IIP, amid expectations of rate cut in the forthcoming RBI policy meet.

Taking support from positive global markets, trading got off to a strong start with key indices briefly conquering the 8,400 points landmark before encountering resistance at higher levels as signs of caution triggered some profit taking. Healthcare, energy, metal and technology counters witnessed heavy selling.
The 50-share index strengthened by another 20.65 points, or 0.25 per cent to finish at 8,383.30 points over its last close.

Smart movers included ITC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, TCS, Heromoto, Maruti, Indusind Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI and BHEL.
L&T, PowerGrid, Cipla, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, NTPC, Reliance, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, HCL-Tech, M&M and ONGC were the notable losers.

Turnover in the cash segment surged to Rs 17,401.5 crore from Rs 16,951.59 crore yesterday. A total of 9,207.78 lakh shares changed hands in 74,66,486 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 95,75,884 crore.