Mumbai: Stocks continued their upward sprint for the third straight session today with benchmark Sensex galloping 255.08 points to 28,693.99 and Nifty surging 94.05 points to 8,588.25 as tumbling oil prices strengthened the case for a rate cut by the RBI next week.
Brent crude oil contracts for January settlement were trading around USD 72/barrel, the lowest level since August 2010. Falling oil price is good news for India, which imports 80 percent of its requirements. This will also help the country narrow its Current Account Deficit.
Stocks related to oil like oil marketing companies, airlines, paint makers attracted heavy buying interest.
Shares of banks, automobile makers and realty firms spurted on rising hopes of a rate cut on December 2.
Besides, select NBFCs saw heavy investor interest after RBI yesterday unveiled final guidelines for small finance banks and payments banks.
All eyes are now on quarterly GDP data to be released later today.
The BSE 30-share Sensex resumed better and shot up to log new life time high of 28,822.37. It shed some gains on weak European cues but nevertheless settled at yet another closing peak of 28,693.99, up 255.08 points or 0.90 percent.
In three days, the index has gained over 355 points.
Similarly, the broader 50-issue NSE Nifty also flared up by 94.05 points, or 1.11 percent, to register fresh closing peak of 8,588.25. It also hit new intra-trade peak of 8,617.
"Sentiments were buoyed by OPEC's decision to sustain production levels and the subsequent sharp fall in crude prices. Markets are hoping for a rate cut in the RBI policy meeting next week," said Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.
Meanwhile, total investor wealth in Indian stock market intra-day today hit a record high above Rs 100 lakh crore. It settled at over Rs 99,81,550 crore at close, up by over Rs 87,550 crore from yesterday's levels.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 389.73 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Asian stocks closed mixed with upward bias. Key indices in China, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan ended positively while those from Hong Kong and South Korea settled slightly down.
European markets, however, were trading lower in their late morning deals. The CAC was down by 0.38 percent, the DAX by 0.35 percent and the FTSE by 0.64 percent.
Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities said: "It was an exceptional end to the trading week as indices jumped by a percent and closed at new highs. Next week will be interesting with participants reacting to the GDP numbers in early trades on Monday and that would determine the market direction...."
Overall, 19 scrips of the 30-share Sensex pack concluded in the green while others finished in the red. SBI was the top gainer with a rise of 5.10 percent, followed by Axis Bank 2.79 percent, Tata Steel 2.78 percent, Tata Motors 2.78 percent, M&M 2.53 percent, Maruti Suzuki 2.25 percent, ICICI Bank 1.88 percent, Coal India 1.59 percent, L&T 1.28 percent, Hero MotoCorp 1.18 percent and HDFC Bank 1.03 percent.
Laggards were led by Sesa Sterlite which declined by 2.88 percent, Bharti Airtel 1.01 percent and ONGC 0.71 percent.
Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Bankex firmed up by 2.87 percent, Auto 1.95 percent, Realty 1.65 percent, Consumer Durables 1.16 percent and Capital Goods 1.01 percent.
Reflecting some weakness in small-cap shares, the total market breadth, despite smart rise in the Sensex, was almost stable as 1,509 stocks closed with gains while 1,518 finished with losses. Total turnover rose to Rs 3,834.96 crore from Rs 3,351.02 crore yesterday.
