Global cues, short coverings push indices to new peaks (Roundup)

Positive global cues coupled with short coverings and expectations of healthy quarterly results pushed the Indian equity markets to fresh closing as well as intra-day highs on Tuesday.

However, the key indices ceded most of their gains during the last hour of the day's trade due to profit bookings.

The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at a new high of 9,786.05 points -- up 15 points, or 0.15 per cent, over Monday's closing. It recorded a new intra-day high of 9,830.05 points.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,789.50 points, closed at a fresh peak of 31,747.09 points -- up 31.45 points, or 0.10 per cent, from Monday's close at 31,715.64 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 31,885.11 points -- a new record -- and a low of 31,718.48 points during the intra-day trade.

On Monday, the NSE Nifty gained 105.25 points, or 1.09 per cent to close at a new high of 9,771.05 points. Similarly, the Sensex closed at a fresh high of 31,715.64 points -- up 355.01 points, or 1.13 per cent.

"Markets rose on Tuesday to touch new life highs before correcting in the last one hour of trade. The Nifty ended with modest gains despite positive global cues," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

"Major Asian markets have ended on a positive note, barring the Shanghai and Straits indices. European indices like CAC 40 and FTSE 100 traded lower."

On the currency front, the rupee weakened by six paise to 64.59 to a US dollar from its previous close of 64.53 to a greenback.

In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 182.05 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) invested Rs 335.75 crore.

"Sectors like IT, telecom, auto, bank, capital goods ended in the green, whereas consumer durables ended in the red," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

"IndusInd Bank's Q1 profit surpassed estimates, it was up 26 per cent but asset quality deteriorated further."

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE automobile index gained 192.07 points, the IT index by 91.78 points and the capital goods index by 49.01 points.

On the other hand, consumer durables index declined by 112.08, banking index by 110.57 points and healthcare index by 94.04 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Bajaj Auto, up 2.34 per cent at Rs 2,793.40; Tata Motors, up 2.28 per cent at Rs 456.95; NTPC, up 1.81 per cent at Rs 163.05; Infosys, up 1.75 per cent at Rs 975.80; and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), up 1.64 per cent at Rs 1,390.15.

Major Sensex losers were: Bharti Airtel, down 2.45 per cent at Rs 395.45; Cipla, down 2.06 per cent at Rs 538.15, Wipro, down 1.92 per cent at Rs 263.35, Coal India, down 1.85 per cent at Rs 254.40 and ONGC, down 1.54 per cent at Rs 160.30.

--IANS

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