Profit booking caps gains on Dalal St

Mumbai: After Dussehra holiday on Wednesday, benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 156 points, while NSE Nifty closed above the 17,300 level on Thursday on gains in metal, IT and capital goods shares amid foreign capital inflows. Rising for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE benchmark advanced 156.63 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 58,222.10. The index opened higher and later jumped 513.29 points or 0.88 per cent to a day's high of 58,578.76 on gains in metal, FMCG, IT and oil stocks. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 57.50 points or 0.33 per cent to end at 17,331.80 as 27 of its shares ended in the green. However, profit booking in select banking and tech stocks in the closing session trimmed the gains.

Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services, said: "The Indian market is maintaining its resilience despite mixed cues from global equities and surging oil prices. Both domestic and foreign investors are supporting the rally. The market was also bolstered by expectations on Q2 results session, with improvement in sectors like metal, IT, and realty." "Weakness in European indices and SGX Nifty is slipping into the red prompted investors to cut their bullish bets. But key domestic benchmarks still ended in the green thanks to traders betting big on IT, metal and realty stocks. However, inflationary concerns worldwide and central banks hiking interest rates persistently has spooked markets and kept investors on tenterhooks on worries of a global slowdown," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.