Sensex ended at a record high, tracking gains in index majors HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Infosys amid a largely positive trend in global markets.
Sensex closed 151 points higher at 54,554 and Nifty advanced 21 points to 16,280. During the day, the 30-stock index hit an all-time high of 54,779 and Nifty scaled a record high of 16,359.
Top Sensex gainer was Bharti Airtel, rising around 4 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, HDFC, Kotak Bank, M&M and HCL Tech. Tata Steel, NTPC, ITC and PowerGrid were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.73%.
BSE midcap and small cap indices lost 194 points and 545 points, respectively.
Metal stocks capped gains with BSE metal index losing 566 points to end at 20,258.
On the other hand, BSE IT index gained 210 points to 32,011.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan said, “Structurally, the consolidation in the last few sessions is developing as an expanded flat pattern & is expected to be followed by the next leg up. On the downside, 16,200-16,150 is a key short-term support zone. A dip towards this area will be a fresh buying opportunity for the short term traders. The overall outlook continues to be positive with the short term target at 16400.”
Market breadth was negative with 761 shares rising against 2,498 falling on BSE.
Market cap of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 236.38 lakh crore. Meanwhile, rupee fell 17 paise to end at 74.43 against the US currency due to a stronger dollar in the overseas markets.
The rupee opened on a negative note at 74.40 per dollar as against its previous close of 74.26 at the interbank foreign exchange market. The domestic currency has lost 28 paise in the last two trading sessions.
Global markets
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with gains, while Seoul was in the red. Equities in Europe were largely trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.03 per cent to $69.75 per barrel.