A wave of frantic buying by FIIs and domestic investors, triggered by IMF's upbeat projection of India's GDP growth, swept the market today as the benchmark index settled at a new lifetime high on the back of over 100- point surge on the National Stock Exchange.
The 50-share CNX Nifty index settled at a new closing high of 6,796.20, a massive rise of 101.15 points, or 1.51 per cent, over the previous close. The NSE barometer went as high as 6,808.70, a new all-time peak in intra-day trading.
Sentiment turned buoyant after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India's economic growth forecast to 5.4 per cent in 2014, supported by slightly stronger global growth, improving export competitiveness and implementation of recently-approved investment projects.
A shrinking current account deficit, strengthening rupee, continuation of economic reforms and hopes of a stable Government post-poll boosted investor confidence, a trader said.
After a strong start on the back of firm buying in heavyweights, the key index maintained its momentum throughout the session. The rally was spearheaded by banking, financial, auto, healthcare, energy, metal and infra stocks.
However, IT stocks took a beating. The sectoral CNX IT index plummeted by 1.04 per cent as cautious investors sold technology stocks ahead of Infosys' Q4 earnings.
Elsewhere in Asia, most markets ended higher following overnight recovery in US equities, while Japaneses stocks tanked for the third-straight day spooked by stronger currency amid fading hopes for more monetary stimulus.
Drug major Sun Pharma continued to attract buyers after the mega USD 4-billion acquisition deal of crisis-ridden Ranbaxy on Monday. Sun share flared up 7.12 per cent to emerge the top index gainer and closed at Rs 630.
Other top gainers included Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, PNB, Hindalco, IndusSnd, HDFC and ICICI Bank.
TechM, HCL-Tech, Infosys, ONGC, TCS, ACC, Wipro, HeroMoto and Power Grid were the top laggards.
Turnover in the cash segment jumped to Rs 16,965.61 crore from Rs 13,450.74 crore Monday. A total of 10,009.44 lakh shares changed hands in 80,27,622 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 74,12,073 crore.
