Indian equity markets cheered the cabinet decision on the banking sector, with the NSE Nifty on Thursday closing at a record high. The BSE Sensex too closed above the 30,000-mark.
The US Federal Reserve's decision to keep key interest rates unchanged and healthy buying in banking stocks also boosted investors' sentiments.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 47.95 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 9,359.90 points -- a new record. It had closed at 9,351.85 points on April 26.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 30,069.72 points, closed at 30,126.21 points -- up 231.41 points or 0.77 per cent from its previous close at 29,894.80 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 30,169.95 points and a low of 30,007.40 during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was evenly balanced though narrowly in favour of the bulls -- with 1,430 advances and 1,428 declines.
In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed higher by 0.48 per cent while the small-cap index was up 0.36 per cent.
"The Nifty and Bank Nifty touched all-time highs. The ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act for resolution of bad loan crisis in the banks helped sentiments," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"Major Asian markets have ended on a positive note, barring Shanghai, Straits and Hang Seng index. Positive sentiment in European trading also helped. European indices like FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 traded higher."
Anand James, Chief Market Strategist of Geojit Financial Services, said: "FOMC's (Federal Open Market Committee) status quo ensured that markets were not much ruffled while oil's slippage helped EM equities to be firm. FIIs (foreign institutional investors) were reluctant buyers of Indian equities last month. An increased activity may be hoped for at least until FOMC meets in June."
In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that FIIs sold stocks worth Rs 601.12 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased scrip worth Rs 926.10 crore.
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, USD/INR futures prices remained volatile, supporting the firmness of equity markets in intraday session to a certain extent.
The Indian rupee marginally weakened by 3-4 paise to 64.18 per US dollar from its previous close of 64.15-16 to a greenback.
Sector-wise, the S&P banking index witnessed healthy buying and surged by 584.87 points or 2.32 per cent during intra-day trade after the cabinet on Wednesday night approved an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act to tackle mounting NPAs of state-run banks.
The consumer durables index surged by 219.66 points and the capital goods index edged 138.32 points up.
In contrast, the S&P BSE automobile index fell by 126.89 points, the metal index by 86.27 points and the oil and gas index by 77.02 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: ICICI Bank, up 9.24 per cent at Rs 297.95; Adani Ports, up 3.68 per cent at Rs 339.60; Axis Bank, up 3.63 per cent at Rs 518.90; State Bank of India, up 3.27 per cent at Rs 298.80; and Hindustan Unilever, up 2.36 per cent at Rs 956.15.
Major Sensex losers were: Tata Motors, down 2.27 per cent at Rs 436.50; ONGC, down 1.15 per cent at Rs 188.75; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 0.89 per cent at Rs 1,335.25; Cipla, down 0.84 per cent at Rs 549.65; and Reliance Industries, down 0.84 per cent at Rs 1,358.75.
--IANS
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