Nifty hits new peak in intra-day trade; ITC lights up

Buoyant overseas sentiment and expectation of further reforms steered the benchmark Nifty to conquer a new lifetime high in intra-day trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
Trading was predominantly dominated by FMCG stocks with the sectoral index shooting up by a massive 681 points.
Diversified FMCG major ITC topped the buying list among large-caps, jumping 5.48 per cent on expectations the proposal to ban sale of loose cigarettes may be put on hold by the Government.
Financial and rate-sensitive shares, too, rallied.
The bellwether index scaled new highs early in the day on the back of overall buying spree.

However, the initial euphoria failed to last for long due to profit-taking at higher levels. The market was highly choppy during most part of the day and regained momentum towards the tail-end, ending with modest gains.

The 50-share index rose 26.75 points, or 0.31 per cent, to conclude at 8,564.40 after climbing fresh all-time peak of 8,626.95 in early trade. The main NSE barometer hit an intra-day low of 8,526.40.
Meanwhile, rally continued in other Asian markets, buoyed by strong macro data from the US with China's benchmark Shanghai Composite hitting fresh three-year highs on hopes of further stimulus measures and ECB policy decision outcome.

MNC engineering counters attracted good buying as stocks like ABB, Cummins India, Siemens and Alstom shot up 2-12 per cent.
Other prominent smart movers included HDFC Bank, HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Cipla, BPCL, HUL, Industind, ICICI Bank, Heromotorco, Lupin, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, TCS and Axis Bank.
Key losers were Infosys, Reliance, L&T, M&M, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Hindalco, BHEL, Tata power and Tata Motors.
Turnover in the cash segment slipped to Rs 18,359.4 crore from Rs 19,392.81 crore yesterday. A total of 9,656.6 lakh shares changed hands in 77,10,787 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 98,26,730 crore.