The Sensex gained 122 points on sustained buying by institutional and retail investors. IT stocks moved up on positive economic data from the US, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT companies.
The Sensex opened on a positive note at 26,130 against the previous close of 26,026. It made a high of 26,189 and low of 26,000 before closing at 26,147. Turnover on the BSE was down marginally at Rs 3,024 crore against Rs 3,030 crore recorded on Tuesday.
On the NSE, Nifty was up 28 points at 7,796.
Among IT company stocks,
PSU oil market companies edged higher as international crude oil prices declined on Tuesday. Indian Oil Corporation was up one per cent at Rs 334, BPCL and HPCL were higher by three per cent each at Rs 600 and Rs 395, respectively.
Crude oil prices
Brent crude oil futures for September contract fell 35 cents to settle at $107.33 a barrel on Tuesday, as oil supplies remained unaffected by the continuing violence in Iraq, Ukraine and Gaza.
Lower crude oil prices could reduce the under-recoveries of state-run oil marketing companies on sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene at controlled prices.
Gainers, losers
Major gainers were Financial Tech (10%), MRF (7%), Unitech (5%), Thermax (5%), Berger Paints (5%) and Jet Air India (3%).
Prominent losers were Sun TV Network (-7%), Coromandel Intl (-4%), Apollo Hosp (-3%), Ambuja Cements (-3%) and Exide Inds (-3%).
The benchmark BSE Sensex had climbed 162.84 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 26,188.64, in early trade, just shying away from its lifetime high of 26,190.44 reached on July 8. The gauge had rallied nearly 1,019 points in the previous six sessions.
Nifty hits new life-time high
The National Stock Exchange index Nifty today scaled a new record-high of 7,809.20 points, led by a rally in IT, tech, auto, oil & gas, banking and pharma stocks on sustained foreign capital inflows amid robust corporate earnings.
The 50-issue index regained the 7,800-level for the second time this month by surging 41.35 points, or 0.53 per cent, to trade at an all-time high of 7,809.20, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 7,808.85 touched on July 8.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 412.03 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
European stocks advanced for a second day as investors weighed earnings results from companies, including Daimler AG and ABB (ABBN) Ltd. US stock-index futures were little changed, while Asian shares climbed.
Asian shares were up as risk aversion triggered by recent geopolitical tensions continued to decline. Violence continued in Gaza, but there were increasing hopes of easing of tensions in Ukraine after pro-Russian rebels handed the flight recorders and victims' remains from a downed Malaysian airliner to international authorities.