Sensex, Nifty scale fresh peaks

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex rose by nearly 91 points to close at a fresh lifetime high, while Nifty settled above the 25,400 level for the first time in a range-bound trade on Tuesday amid firm global trends ahead of the much-awaited US Fed's decision on interest rates.

Extending its record-setting spree for the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 90.88 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at a lifetime high of 83,079.66. The key index settled above the 83,000 level for the first time. During the day, it rose by 163.63 points or 0.19 per cent to 83,152.41. The NSE Nifty gained 34.80 points or 0.14 per cent to settle above 25,400 level for the first time at 25,418.55 - its record closing high.

“The Indian market exhibited a subtle positive momentum, driven by the anticipation of a rate cut cycle by the US FED. Although a 25-bps cut is largely factored in, the market remains attuned to the FED’s comments on the health of the economy and the future trajectory of rate cuts,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.13 per cent and midcap index edged lower by 0.08 per cent.

“After a flat opening, the Nifty moved within a narrow range with realty and auto shares witnessing gains, while metal and pharma ended in the red,” added Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Among the indices, realty climbed 0.64 per cent, telecommunication (0.46%), utilities (0.44%), teck (0.34%), auto (0.33%) and ITechnology (0.11%).

“Range-bound session continued for a second straight session ahead of key US Fed policy meet decision on Wednesday. Also, investor participation was thin on account of Anant Chaturdashi, and hence buying was seen in select frontline stocks,” Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Commodities, industrials, capital goods, metal and services were the laggards.

Among 30 Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainers. Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, ITC and Asian Paints were the biggest laggards.

Wholesale inflation fell for the second consecutive month to 1.31 per cent in August due to cheaper vegetables, food and fuel, government data released on Tuesday showed.