Mumbai: After a brief pause, stocks continued their upward march Thursday with benchmark Sensex rising 122.59 points to new closing peak of 29,681.77 and Nifty index gaining 38.05 points to 8,952.35 on fag-end buying in select bluechips amid expiry of monthly equity derivatives.
Besides, in-line earnings from some firms and strong foreign capital inflows helped the indices end in the green.
While Sensex resumed its rise after breaking a 8-day rally yesterday, Nifty rose for the 10th straight session.
Shares of Realty, Refinery, Healthcare and FMCG sectors were the major gainers of the day.
The BSE Sensex resumed lower at 29,516.49 and dropped further to 29,378.30 on profit-booking amid lower global cues.
However, it recovered afterwards to lifetime high of 29,740.63 before ending at all-time closing high of 29,681.77, showing a recovery of 122.59 points or 0.41 percent.
The Sensex had declined by 11.86 points yesterday.
"January F&O expiry induced significant volatility today on benchmark indices with Nifty closing higher in spite of weal global markets and negative breadth." said WealthRays Securities, Director & CEO, Kiran Kumar Kavikondala.
Among Sensex constituents, Coal India fell over 2 percent after government announced plans to sell up to 10 percent stake on January 30.
Meanwhile, the CNX 50-share Nifty firmed up further by 38.05 points, or 0.43 percent, to finish at 8,952.35 after hitting intraday high of 8,966.65.
Asian stocks ended lower after the US Federal Reserve unexpectedly lifted its view on the economy, signalling that the US central bank remains firmly on track with plans to raise interest rates this year, experts said.
Key benchmark indices in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea fell by 0.54 per cent to 1.31 per cent while Singapore Strait Times ended steady.
European stocks were trading lower in their early trade as tepid earnings from Royal Dutch Shell Plc dragged energy companies lower. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were off by 0.68 per cent to 0.96 percent.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought Indian shares worth net Rs 1723.17 crore yesterday as per provisional data from stock exchanges.
Seventeen scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher while 13 others finished lower.
Major gainers included Dr Reddy's Lab (3.74 percent), HDFC Bank (3.42 percent), BHEL (2.96 percent), Reliance Industries (2.43 percent), ITC (2.01 percent), Hindalco Industries (1.57 percent), Axis Bank (1.48 percent), Tata Motors (1.42 percent) and L&T (1.28 percent).
Among laggards, HDFC fell by 2.61 percent, Coal India 2.32 percent, SBI 2.30 percent, M&M 1.46 percent, ICICI Bank 1.02 percent and Maruti 1.01 percent.
Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Realty rose by 3.14 percent, Refinery 1.55 percent, Healthcare 1.08 percent, FMCG 1.07 percent, Capital Goods 0.82 percent and Consumer Durables 0.64 percent.
Total market breadth continued to remain negative as 1,448 stocks ended in the red, 1,427 closed in the green and 132 ruled steady. Total turnover dropped to Rs 3,744.47 crore from Rs 3,960.55 crore yesterday.
