Mumbai: Market rally continued for the third straight session today, with Sensex surging over 109 points to end at a fresh 13-month high of 28,452.17 on sustained fund inflows despite a caution ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data later in the day.
On monthly basis, in August both the key indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- recorded their sixth straight month of gains by rising 401.31 points, or 1.43 percent, and 147.70 points, or 1.70 percent, respectively. This is also the longest run of monthly advances since November 2014.
In the current fiscal (2016-17), the Sensex has so far gained 3,110.31 points, or 12.27 percent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 390.63 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
The broader NSE Nifty after recapturing the 8,800-mark after 16 months touched a high of 8,819.20 today but profit-taking dragged it down to close at 8,786.20, still up 41.85 points or 0.48 percent.
Moreover, encouraging earnings by some more companies and a mixed trend in global markets too buoyed trading sentiment here.
Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager ? Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, said, "Sensex and Nifty traded higher and hit their highest level in over 13 months and 16 months in intra-day trade, respectively. Domestic investor sentiment remained buoyed, despite mixed global cues and a sharp up-move in the dollar index."
The benchmark BSE Sensex after shuttling between 28,532.25 and 28,363.10, finally ended 109.16 points, or 0.39 percent, higher at 28,452.17 on sustained foreign fund inflows and increased buying by domestic financial institutions ahead of the GDP data for the June quarter, to be released later in the day.
This is the highest closing since July 22, 2015. The index had rallied 560.76 points in the previous two sessions.
Broader markets also continued to display firm trend as retail investors widened their exposure, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 0.37 percent and small-cap gaining 0.18 percent.
RBL Bank share made a spectacular debut with a nearly 22 percent premium on the bourses today, against the issue prices of Rs 225.
Consequently, auto-maker stocks remained buyers' fancy ahead of monthly sale numbers to be announced tomorrow. Major gainers were Hero MotoCorp with 2.13 percent rise followed by Tata Motors 1.73 percent.
Moreover, among banking pack, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI surged by up to 1.83 percent.
In a major boost to the construction sector, the Union Cabinet today approved an array of measures including easing of rules for quicker settlement of disputes, pumping in liquidity and reinvigorating stalled projects.
Reacting to this, shares of Hindustan Construction Company soared 20 percent to Rs 27.50. Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 11 scrips ended higher.
Major gainers were L&T (2.71 percent), Asian Paint (1.09 percent), ITC Ltd (1.05 percent), HDFC Ltd (0.99 percent), Power Grid (0.52 percent), and Wipro (0.29 percent).
Among laggards, Tata Steel fell the most by 1.95 percent, followed by ONGC 1.92 percent, Lupin 1.71 percent, NTPC 1.58 percent and TCS 1.42 percent.
Sector-wise, capital goods rose by 1.40 percent followed by bankex 1.20 percent, consumer durables 0.17 percent, auto 0.35 percent and FMCG 0.15 percent, while metal fell by 1.40 percent and realty 0.81 percent.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei settled 0.97 percent higher and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.35 percent, while indices in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea fell up to 0.18 percent.
Europe was narrowly mixed with indices in Paris rising 0.40 percent, while London's FTSE dipping 0.11 percent. Frankfurt's fell 0.22 percent in their early trade.
