Indices end at record closing high; Nifty eyes 8,500

Markets have closed the session on a firm note with Indices hitting all time high led by banks and index heavyweights RIL and ITC.

The Sensex and the Nifty hit all time high of 28,361 mark and 8,490 levels, respectively.

The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended higher by 250 points at 28,317 mark whereas the Nifty closed at 8,470 up 68 points.



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(Updated at 14:30)

Benchmark indices are edging higher led by sustained rally in banking stocks and fresh buying in oil and gas shares.
 
At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 244 points at 28,312 and the 50-share Nifty was up  74 points at 8,476.
 
Earlier, the Sensex touched the life-time high level of 28,321 and Nifty reached all-time high mark of 8,482
 
 In the broader market, BSE midcap and BSE smallcap indices are underperforming their larger peers with gains of 0.3% each. Market breadth in BSE balanced out with 1,443 advance against 1,445 declines.
 
The rupee is trading at 61.8775/8800 vs Thursday's close of 61.94/95. Record high local stocks boosted sentiment for the rupee.
 
Buzzing Stocks
 
BSE Bankex is the lead gainer with more than 2% of gains followed by BSE Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices with more than 1% of gains.
 
BSE IT index is losing around 0.6% while BSE Healthcare and metal indices are down 0.2% each.
 
Banking shares public as well as private sectors are in demand leading to gains of up to 6% after the Kotak Mahindra Bank announced that it was acquiring ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal.
 
Kotak Mahindra Bank, South Indian Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank and City Union Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and ING Vysya Bank among the private sector banks are up 3-6%, while State Bank of India (SBI), Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Bank of India are up 2-3%
 
Shares of ICICI Bank has higher by 3% after the bank has fixed December 5 as the record date for its proposed stock split.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) today reclaimed its position as the country's most valued bank with a total market valuation of over Rs 2.25 lakh crore, surpassing private sector player HDFC Bank.
 
From the auto space Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp are up around 1% each. Tata Motors is aiming to increase its commercial vehicles exports by 300% in the next 4 years, according to media reports.
 
Cipla has extended gains from yesterday and is trading with a gain of more than 2% on receiving a rating upgrade from Bank of America –Merrill Lynch.  The pharma company's Europe subsidiary Cipla Europe NV has signed a distribution agreement with Serum Insititute of India to market latter's vaccines in the Euopean market.
 
From oil & gas space, ONGC and Reliance have gained 0.5% and 1.5% each. Meanwhile, oil prices rose in Asia today on fresh hopes that the OPEC cartel will overcome internal resistance to trim output.
 
Metal shares are trading down after gaining significantly in early trade. Hindalco is still trading up by 1.5% while Sesa Sterlite is trading flat with a negative bias after paring early gains. The central government, after allowing commercial mining in the coal sector, is now planning to permit companies to sell mines of all minerals, except atomic ones, by providing transferability under the mining law. Under the law in force at present, a company cannot sell mines it holds to other companies, though leases are transferred whenever a mining company is taken over.
 
 IT shares have come under pressure. Infosys has lost more than 1%. According to media reports, Infosys has denied the possibility of an audit of its back office divisions spread across 13 countries as was expected by analysts after its facility in Czech Republic overbilled Apple Inc.
The company is likely to incur costs around Rs 6 crore due to the financial irregularities in the accounts of its business process outsourcing (BPO) arm, which led to the dismissal of the unit's chief financial officer, Abraham Mathews earlier this week.
 
Among other shares,shares of Financial Technologies (India) are trading higher by 4%  after board of directors of the Company at its meeting held on 20 November 2014 approved appointment of Prashant Desai, President as MD & CEO of the Company.

Shares of Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco Rail Engineers and Cimmco have rallied by up to 6%  on reports that the government has released its first order for railway wagons.

Global Markets
 
Japanese shares edged up after PM Shinzo Abe dissolved parliament's lower house in preparation for an election in which he will seek a fresh mandate for his struggling economic revival strategy. Nikkei is up around 0.3%.
 
Meanwhile, Chinese shares too gained as pressure of profit-booking eased and fresh buying was seen in casino stocks. Hang Seng ended u9 0.3% while Shanghai Composite index surged 1.3%.
 
European markets have opened higher on strong economic data from US. However, lingering concerns about economic recovery in Europe are likely to weigh on sentiments. FTSE 100 and CAC 40 have gained 0.4% and 0.5% each and DAX is up 0.7%.