Sensex, Nifty hit new closing highs; post 4th weekly gain

Sensex and Nifty today hit new closing highs of 31,273 and 9,653, respectively on gains mainly in auto and pharma counters, helping the indices post fourth straight weekly gain ahead of the RBI policy next week.

Also tracking upbeat Asian markets and a higher opening of European bourses, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 135.70 points and NSE Nifty closed 37.40 points higher.

In the auto space, shares of country's largest two- wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp emerged the top gainer by climbing 2.82 per cent to Rs 3,840 apiece after the company posted a 8.7 per cent rise in sales in May.

Besides, pharma stocks contributed a big deal, with shares of Cipla, Dr Reddy, Lupin and Sun Pharma rising in the range of 1.24 per cent to 2.63 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd for your perusal, "Auto stocks took the lead with positive sale figures in the month of May... Investors are accumulating pharma stocks on account of lower valuations and expectations of better trade relationship with European and Russian markets given Modi's recent visit..."

The key benchmark indices also mirrored global bullishness after overnight record closing on American bourses on positive US manufacturing and Employment data.

After a two-day brief consolidative pause, the market moved range-bound but near life highs during most of the session, with buying mostly in auto, healthcare, realty, consumer durables and telecom stocks.

A persistent buying across-the-board also helped the indices record their fourth straight quarter gains.

"A positive momentum in markets was intact on expectation that the RBI is likely to be less hawkish in the monitory policy meeting next week on account of moderation in inflation and slow growth. The decline in crude prices is also helping this trend and markets continued its upward trajectory. Further strong May Auto sales figure continues to bring cheers to investor sentiments," Nair said.

The Reserve Bank is scheduled to hold its bi-monthly monetary policy meet on June 6 and 7 this month.

The Sensex resumed higher at 31,205.37 and hovered between all time high of 31,332.56 and 31,190.40 before closing at 31,273.29, showing a gain of 135.70 points, or 0.44 per cent. (It surpassed its last closing highs 31,159.40 on May 30).

While, the gauge had lost 21.81 points in the previous two sessions.

While the broader 50-scrip NSE Nifty after moving between 9,673.50 and 9,637.45, finished at 9,653.50, up 37.40 points, or 0.39 per cent. (Surpassing the previous 9,624.55, logged on May 30).

Overseas, Asian market ended higher buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street with solid assessment of the US manufacturing sector and release of the positive US monthly jobs report.

Barring Shanghai Composite Index which declined 0.28 per cent, Nikkie Japan gained 1.74 per cent, South Korea up 1.16 per cent and Hong Kong ended by 0.32 per cent higher.

European markets were also trading higher, with Dax Germany gaining 1.00 per cent, CAC Paris 0.79 per cent and London FTSE 0.47 per cent.

In the domestic market, Bharti Airtel rallied following merger approval with Telenor India by market regulator SEBI and stock exchanges.

The sharp rise in Hero Moto was followed by Cipla with 2.63 per cent gain, Adani Ports 2.13 per cent, Wipro 1.88 per cent, HDFC 1.74 per cent, Bharti Artl 1.63 per cent, ITC 1.45 per cent, Coal India 1.40 per cent, NTPC 1.34 per cent, Dr Reddy 1.32 per cent and Lupin 1.30 per cent.

Among the laggards were, Gail by 1.47 per cent followed by Tata Steel 1.27 per cent, Power Grid 0.77 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.62 per cent, HUL 0.50 per cent, L&T 0.43 per cent and Maruti 0.41 per cent.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally rose 0.72 per cent. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index provisionally advanced 0.50 per cent. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

In the domestic market, 19 scrips out of the 30-share sensex pack ended higher while 11 scrips finished lower.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 517.31 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Among the sectoral indices, realty rose by 1.22 per cent, healthcare 1.12 per cent, consumer durables 1.10 per cent, telecom 0.98 per cent, power 0.73 per cent, FMCG 0.73 per cent, finance 0.69 per cent, utilities 0.61 per cent and auto 0.45 per cent, while oil&gas fell by 0.41 per cent followed by metal 0.23 per cent and energy 0.23 per cent.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,461 stocks ended higher, 1,224 finished in red while 165 ruled steady.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3,081.68 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 3,385.87 crore registered during the previous trading session.