Nifty crosses 5,000, Sensex near 17,000

The National Stock Exchange Nifty closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time in 16 months on Thursday after second-quarter advance corporation and personal income tax collections registered positive growth.

Advance corporation tax and personal income tax collections grew 14.7 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively, in the quarter ended September 15, as against the fall of 3.7 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, in the first quarter.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) plan to simplify norms for foreign portfolio investments improved the sentiment.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index, or Sensex, touched an intra-day high of 16,943.49, up 202.19 points. It closed at 16,886.43, up 145.13 points.

The Nifty closed above the psychological mark of 5,000 for the first time since May 22, 2008. The index rose 44.15 points on Thursday and closed at 5,020.20.

Financial sector stocks gained after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hinted that the Reserve Bank of India would keep policy rates low. Mukherjee had said in Bangalore on Saturday that India’s equity index was moving “steadily” and the authorities would avoid disturbing the pattern. The country’s biggest housing loan provider, HDFC, surged 5.30 per cent, SBI (1.41 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.50 per cent) and ICICI Bank (0.96 per cent).

Among sectoral indices, the IT index led the rally with a rise of 1.91 per cent. The FMCG index rose 1.63 per cent on hope of increase in sales in the festival season. Hindustan Unilever gained 1.28 per cent. The automobile index rose nearly 1 per cent on the back of improving demand for vehicles. Maruti Suzuki climbed to its all-time high of Rs 1,685.90, a gain of 1.27 per cent. Bajaj Auto touched its life-time high of Rs 1,535. Tata Motors advanced 2.60 per per cent.

All sectoral indices, barring the oil & gas index, ended in the positive zone on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel declined 3.28 per cent while Reliance Industries was down marginally.

Jitendra Panda, senior vice-president, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, “IT and banking sectors played a major role in on Thursday upmove. However, oil & gas stocks are seen to be losing ground. Markets are expected to be volatile due to the derivatives expiry this week with resistance at higher levels.”

Alex Mathews, head, research centre, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said, “The market moved up in the morning due to support from the Asian markets. On the domestic front, FMCG, IT and auto sectors gave strong support. The market looks strong with a target of 5,100 before the September futures expiry.”

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 228.29 points, while the Shanghai Composite declined 69.45 points. The Japan Stock Exchange was closed on Thursday.