Fag-end buying spurs Sensex to record high

Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex climbed 248 points to close at its all-time high of 61,872 on Tuesday, propped up by robust fag-end buying in banking and energy stocks amid a positive trend in global equities. A strengthening rupee, encouraging domestic inflation data and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said. After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 61,872.99 -- surpassing its previous closing peak of 61,795.04 on November 11. During the day, the index witnessed a high of 61,955.96 - its 52-week intraday high - and a low of 61,436.90. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 74.25 points or 0.41 per cent to finish at 18,403.40.

"Following gains in global equities, early losses in the domestic market were reversed, with banking stocks steering the recovery. Food and commodity price declines have helped to keep domestic inflation below 7 per cent. Although the CPI has continued to remain above the RBI's tolerance limit of 6 per cent, it is estimated that it will begin to fall within the range from Q1 FY24," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"The Bank Nifty bulls came back strong in the last half an hour of the session which scales the index to its new 52-week high level. The momentum, going forward, continues to remain strong, and the index is likely to test the level of 43000-44000 on the upside," said Kunal Shah, senior technical and derivatives analyst at LKP Securities.

"Rally gathered pace towards the closing hours after trading range-bound for a major part of the trading session. The majority of the European and Asian indices logged gains, which had a rub-off effect on the local benchmarks. Sharp fall in crude oil prices and the strengthening rupee against the dollar boosted investors' confidence. "With domestic inflation showing signs of cooling, traders are hoping that the RBI in next month's policy meeting may take a dovish stance in its rate-setting decision," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers on Monday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,089.41 crore, as per exchange data.