Growth sentiment propels Sensex, Nifty to historic highs

Spurred by robust economic growth, the BSE Sensex on Monday surged to a historic peak of 26,900.30 points and Nifty crossed 8,000 level for the first time on aggressive buying particularly in auto, metal and banking counters.

The 30-share Sensex, however, settled at 26,867.55 -- new closing high -- with gains of 229.44 points or 0.86 per cent over the previous close. In the last five trading sessions, the Sensex has been scaling new closing peaks.

The 50-share Nifty crossed the 8,000 level for the first time and closed at 8,027.70, a net gain of 73.35 points or 0.92 per cent. The Nifty touched all time high of 8,035.00 in intra day trade. It took 78 trading sessions from May 12 to reach the 8,000-mark from 7,000 points.

Sentiments turned bullish as foreign capital inflows picked up after economic growth improved to two-and-a-half year high of 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, brokers said. Growth numbers were released on last Friday.

The market also got a boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, promised to remove roadblocks to foreign investment and said that economy was out of difficult situation and more reforms were in the offing.

“Positive economic data and continued optimism in the equity segment gave renewed boost to the current rally. Nifty  saw a breakout above 7970 level and also closed above 8000 level, which holds psychological importance,” Bonanza Portfolio Senior Research Analyst Nidhi Saraswat said.

HeroMotoCorp was the biggest Sensex gainer as it jumped 5.79 per cent. Maruti Suzuki climbed 4.71 per cent.

Larsen and Toubro, Hindalco, ONGC, GAIL, Reliance Industries, Cipla, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Infosys and NTPC posted gains in the range of 1 per cent to 3.62 per cent.

“The stellar run for Indian equity markets continued on the back of better than expected GDP data and an increased conviction amongst the investing community on equities as an asset class for the next three to five years,” Devang Mehta, SVP & Head Equity Advisory & Retail Sales, Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd, said.

Among 30 Sensex shares, 22 scrips ended higher, while eight others finished lower. Sunpharma fell by 1.46 per cent, ITC by 1.37 per cent and HDFC by 1.19 per cent.

Meanwhile, the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory production, eased to 52.4 in August from 53 in July, though remaining "solid" as reading above 50 indicates growth while a lower reading means contraction.The total market breadth turned positive as 1,923 stocks closed higher, 1,010 finished lower while 137 ruled steady.