Equity indices end at record closing highs, realty and IT stocks gain

Equity benchmark indices hit fresh lifetime highs on Monday as global investors awaited for US President Donald Trump and Chinese officials to sign the long-awaited phase one trade deal later this week.

The official signing scheduled for January 15 between the world's two largest economies coupled with a recovery in industrial production data lifted the market sentiment.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 260 points or 0.62 per cent higher at 41,860 while the Nifty 50 moved up by 73 points at 12,330.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty realty ticking up by 2 per cent, IT by 1.6 per cent, metal by 1.2 per cent and FMCG by 1.1 per cent.

Among stocks, Infosys rose by 4.65 per cent to Rs 772.50 per share after the IT major reported 11 per cent jump in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 2019 (Q3 FY20) to Rs 4,457 crore from Rs 4,019 crore quarter-on-quarter due to higher other income and lower other expenses. The year-on-year profit growth was 23.5 per cent.

IndusInd Bank closed 3.6 per cent higher while Coal India and GAIL moved by nearly 3 per cent. FMCG major Hindustan Lever and Britannia ticked up by 2 per cent each while Tata Steel edged higher by 1.8 per cent.

However, Yes Bank dipped by 5.8 per cent to Rs 42.15 per share after the private sector lender said that independent director and chairman of Yes Bank's Audit Committee Uttam Prakash Agarwal has resigned citing deteriorating corporate governance standards and compliance failure as the reason.

Bharti Infratel, UPL, Tata Consultancy Services, and Eicher Motors too ended in the negative terrain.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets traded on a subdued note ahead of the expected signing on a US-China trade deal, though talks on a phase two package are likely to drag on for months.

The Shanghai Composite gained by 0.75 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 1.11 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 1.04 per cent. Japan's markets were closed for a holiday.

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