Mumbai: A late surge in frontline stocks dominated by technology, FMCG and capital goods helped the Nifty gain 39 points and close above 8,300-level, extending its winning run to the third straight session.
Covering up of short positions by speculators and some value-buying predominantly spearheaded the recovery.
Trading lacklustre most part of the session with high volatility amid investors's caution ahead of retail inflation and IIP data, the key indices withnessed a sudden rebound in last hour of trade with a flurry of buying activity.
After opening in the negative zone, the broader 50-share index fluctuated between high of 8,332.60 and low 8,245.60 before ending at 8,323, posting a smart rise of 38.50 points, or 0.61 percent.
Meanwhile, other Asian and emerging markets ended mixed following a soft set of US macro data figures amid investors' caution ahead of US corporate earnings season and also renewed selling in global crude prices.
Sectorally, the CNX IT index rose the most 1.26 percent, the best among peers. It was followed by the FMCG, Bank, Infra, Healthcare, Auto and Realty. But the broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks with the CNX Midcap and Smallcap indices surging 1.14 percent each. However metal and energy sector witnessed good amount of selling.
Tech shares remained the flavor of the day buoyed by strong quarterly earnings from IT major Infosys. HCL-Tech, TechM and Wipro also saw good buying interest.
The best performers on the index were L&T, ICICI Bank, HUL, HDFC, SBI, Indusind, Axis Bank, Dr Reddys's, Sun Pharma, ITC, Kotak Bank, Bank of Baroda, Lupin, Grasim and PNB.
On the down side, Coal India topped the sellers list, plunging by 4.59 percent on speculation over disinvestment buzz alongwith heavyweight Reliance, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Heromotoco, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 14,485.3 crore from Rs 19,139.26 last Friday. A total of 7,484.22 lakh shares changed hands in 65,02,076 trades and market capitalisation stood at Rs 96,56,579 crore.
