Record breaking spree continues; Sensex tops 26,600

The Sensex and the Nifty hit fresh record highs of 26,631 and 7,966, respectively so far

Benchmark shares indices continued their record breaking spree in noon deals as foreign institutional investors continue to keep their faith in the Indian growth story after a slew of initiatives announced by Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

At 13:00 PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 187 points at 26,606 after hitting a record high of 26,631 and the 50-share Nifty was up 48 points at 7,962 after touching a record high of 7,966.

Foreign Institutional Investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 302 crore on Friday, as per provisional data on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the month so far they have bought equities over $600 million while net purchases for the calendar year so far is nearly $13 billion.

The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at Rs 60.44 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of Rs 60.46. Domestic stocks trading at record highs helped improve sentiment even as the US dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.

Asian markets were trading firm with Japanese shares gaining the most led by exporter shares after the yen weakened against the US dollar. The benchmark Nikkei was trading 0.5% higher at 15,613. Straits Times and Hang Seng were up nearly 0.5% each while Straits Times gained 0.4%.

BSE IT, Bankex, Auto and Healthcare indices were among the top sectoral gainers on the BSE each hitting all-time highs of 10,038, 18,293, 17,156 and 13,327, respectively, in intra-day trades so far.

IT shares were trading with gains after encouraging US economic data signalled hopes of an improving business environment. TCS was up 2.1%, Infosys gained 0.3% and Wipro was up 0.2%.

Auto shares gained on hopes of higher sales growth following the launch of new models ahead of the festive season. Maruti, M&M and Tata Motors were up between 0.4-1.4%.

HDFC was up 1.5% on hopes that demand for new home loans may pick up as buyers start scouting for new hopes with the monsoon season coming to an end.

Bank shares firmed up on hopes that credit growth would pick up resulting in improved cash flows that would help ease concerns over non-performing assets going forward. SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank gained between 0.4-1.5%.

Oil and Gas shares firmed up on the back of easing global crude oil prices. Reliance Industries was up 0.8% and ONGC gained 1.8% on hopes that subsidy burden would come down if crude oil prices continue to remain weak.

Among other shares, KNR Constructions surged 5% to Rs 239 on the BSE after winning orders worth Rs 68 crores from Government of Karnataka. The company is expected to construct road over bridge on Davanagere - Channagiri road and on Ramdurga - Badami road. The project shall be completed within a span of 24 months.

Trident surged 10% after credit rating agency CARE upgraded the long/short term bank facilities of Rs 1,000 crore to CARE A-/ CARE A2+, respectively.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.4% and the Small-cap index was up 0.6%.

Market breadth continued to remain strong with 1,517 gainers and 1,072 losers on the BSE.