Nifty hits fresh closing high of 9,445, up 45 pts

The NSE Nifty settled at new closing peak of 9,445 following good bouts of buying in most sectors led by metal and pharma counters, bolstered by sharp fall in inflation numbers.
Retail inflation fell to a multi-year low of 2.99 per cent in April, while WPI slipped to a four-month low of 3.85 per cent, making a case for a rate cut by the RBI in its June policy meet.
The Nifty resumed higher at 9,433.55 and hovered in a range of 9,449.25 and 9,423.10 before ending at a new peak of 9,445.40, showing a gain of 44.50 points, or 0.47 per cent. (The Nifty marked last closing high at 9,422.40 on May 11).

It witnessed an intra-day movement of about 26.15 points.
Overseas, Asian market ended mixed, while European stocks were trading narrowly mixed.
Sector-wise, Nifty metal surged by 2.28 per cent, followed by pharma 1.30 per cent, commodities 1.07 per cent, financial services 0.83 per cent, realty 0.76 per cent, media 0.71 per cent, PSU bank 0.69 per cent, private banks 0.68 per cent, banks 0.66 per cent, FMCG 0.64 per cent and auto 0.50 per cent.

Major index gainers were Tata Steel 4.43 per cent, Hindalco 3.87 per cent, Dr Reddy 3.68 per cent, Bosch Ltd 3.02 per cent and Lupin 2.44 per cent.

Notable losers were Auro Pharma down by 1.56 per cent, Infosys 1.32 per cent and Infratel 0.97 per cent.
Meanwhile, FIIs bought shares worth a net worth Rs 841.80 crore last Friday, as per provisional figures issued by the stock exchanges.
A total of 973 scrips advanced, 693 declined, while 104 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 127.
Turnover in the cash segment slumped to Rs 22,916.77 crore, from Rs 25,183.85 crore yesterday.
A total of 12,665.26 lakh shares changed hands in 8,211,651 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms stood at Rs 12,518,268 crore.