Mumbai: After a short breather, Sensex and Nifty Monday scaled new peaks by surging 293 points and 87 points respectively as overseas funds increased bets on growth optimism and a lower oil price gave a boost to sentiments.
In step with the rise in broader equity indices after two straight sessions of decline previously, rupee also firmed up and hit 60.19 levels against the US dollar.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today resumed strong on the back of rally on Wall Street last Friday. It gradually moved up further to an intra-trade peak of 27,354.99 before logging a life-time closing high of 27,319.85 - a rise of 293.15 points or 1.08 percent. In previous two sessions, it had fallen by 113.33 points or 0.42 percent.
Today it surpassed its previous all-time intra-day peak of 27,225.85 and closing high of 27,139.94 hit on September 3.
Among Sensex stocks, Hindalco stole the show, rising by 3.49 percent. Overall, 26 Sensex stocks ended higher. Gainers included Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Infosys and ONGC.
The broad-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also commenced higher and rallied further to hit a new intra-day peak of 8,180.20 before recording new closing high of 8,173.90, up 87.05 points or 1.08 percent.
It also surpassed previous all-time intra-day peak of 8,141.90 and closing high of 8,114.60 hit on September 3.
"FII buying in equity segment and easing crude oil prices further boosted market sentiment. Almost all sectors saw buying interest, as hopes for implementation of better reforms by new government keeps the market spirit high," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
Oil & gas shares were at the forefront. Brent crude for October lost 46 cents to USD 100.31 in afternoon trade after subdued US jobs data fuelled demand concerns and on a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.
A lower crude price will help India, which imports about 80 percent of oil needs, to contain CAD and fiscal deficit.
Persistent foreign fund buying is the force behind the rally. Data showed FPIs/FIIs bought shares worth Rs 4,813.38 crore last week, including September 5 provisional data.
Buying was seen in most sectors, as 11 out of 12 sectoral indices gained between 0.26 percent and 1.79 percent. Oil&Gas, FMCG, Bankex, Metal and IT shares took the lead.
Smallcap and midcap shares saw heavy buying as well.
Equity brokers said after two days of consolidation, activity gathered momentum ahead of key macro economic data releases, including IIP and inflation, later this week.
Tyre shares were in the limelight on hopes that recent sharp fall in rubber prices could boost the profitability of these companies. Apollo Tyre, Ceat Tyres, Dunlop India, Falcon Tyre, Goodyear India, JK Tyres, MRF and TVS Shrichakra closed with gains between 4.92 percent and 20 percent.
Refinery shares were also attracted good buying support on fall in crude prices amid hopes of further reforms. HPCL, BPCL, Castrol, IOC, ONGC, Oil India, Cairn and RIL rose between 1.65 percent and 4.32 percent.
The bull run today helped investors get rich by almost Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services, said: "Indices posted new all time highs with the help of blue-chip companies that closed with good gains."
There was no major trigger from Asian markets, as China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed today for holiday while indices from Hong Kong eased by 0.20 percent and Taiwan rose by 0.23 percent.
European stocks too were trading lower in their late morning deals. The CAC index (France) was down by 0.25 percent, the DAX (Germany) by 0.06 percent and FTSE (the UK) by 0.69 percent.
Overall, 26 out of 30 Sensex-based counters closed up while M&M, NTPC, Tata Power and HDFC finished with losses.
Major gainers include Hindalco 3.49 percent, ONGC 2.78 percent, SBI 1.94 percent, HDFC Bank 1.80 percent, Wipro 1.66 percent, HUL 1.65 percent, TCS 1.50 percent, Infosys 1.29 percent, RIL 1.19 percent and Axis Bank 1.18 percent.
Maruti 1.12 percent, Cipla, 1.09 percent, L&T 1.02 percent, Sesa Sterlite 0.98 percent, Sun Pharma 0.96 percent and ITC 0.96 percent also notched up smart rise.
Among the S&P BSE Sectoral indices, Oil&Gas firmed up by 1.79 percent, FMCG by 1.40 percent, Bankex 1.38 percent, Capital Goods 1.29 percent, Metal 1.25 percent, IT 1.22 percent and Teck 1.20 percent.
Reflecting the rally in second-line stocks, BSE-Smallcap and BSE-Midcap indices outperformed the Sensex and closed strong by 2.11 percent and 1.29 percent. As a result, total market breadth was strong and 2,081 stocks closed in the green while 947 settled in the red.
