Equities extended rally on a wave of frantic buying today as the benchmark Nifty scaled another milestone of 8,100 in intra-day trade before settling at a new all-time peak on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Riding high on signs of economic recovery and better- than-expected Q1 GDP data, confident investors went on a buying spree in select sectors.
The market got a shot in the arm after the current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to 1.7 per cent of GDP in the April-June quarter, as against 4.8 per cent a year ago, on strong dollar inflows.
Improved business environment and multi-billion investment commitments by Japan also lifted market sentiment. The world's third-largest economy yesterday announced doubling of its private and public investment in India to about USD 34 billion over the next five years.
Healthcare, FMCG, financials, energy, infra and tech stocks witnessed huge buying interest, while metal counters saw good amount of profit-taking.
The 50-share Nifty rallied by a healthy 55.35 points, or 0.69 per cent, to end at 8,083.05. The NSE barometer crossed the 8,100 mark and hit 8,101.95 in afternoon trade.
Meanwhile, barring Hong Kong, other Asian markets ended higher amid growing hopes of fresh easing measures from the European Central Bank in its upcoming policy meeting.
HDFC Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Reliance, Cipla, HDFC, ONGC, Grasim, UltraTech, Infosys, Axis Bank, SBI, Tech Mahindra, ACC, Kotak Bank, Hero Moto and Ambuja Cement were among the major index gainers.
However, steel and power stocks remained under intense selling pressure ahead of the Supreme Court's verdict on coal scam. Jindal Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, HUL, PNB, Tata Steel, PNB, Asian Paints, M&M, Hindalco and Tata Motors were the prominent losers.
Turnover in the cash segment spurted to Rs 16,502.33 crore from Rs 15,305.12 crore yesterday. A total of 8,750.90 lakh shares changed hands in 67,30,335 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 92,43,755 crore.
