Sensex settles above 40,000 mark

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex galloped to its fresh lifetime high in intra-day trade on Thursday before closing a tad lower as investors kept the faith in IT and banking stocks amid firm global cues.

After scaling a new peak of 40,392.22, the 30-share index pared some gains to settle at 40,129.05, up by 77.18 points, or 0.19 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty too advanced 33.35 points, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 11,877.45. Both the key indices maintained their winning run for the fifth session on the trot.

Robust quarterly earnings, strong foreign fund inflows and expectations of steps by the government to shore up growth buoyed market sentiment, traders said.

The US Federal Reserve's decision to cut its benchmark interest rate for the third straight time added to the momentum. However, the indices turned volatile in the last hour of the session as October futures and options contracts expired, they added.

World stocks surged to 20-month highs after the US Fed slashed interest rates, even as it dimmed hopes of another rate cut in December.

Sectorally, BSE teck, telecom, IT, realty and healthcare indices rose up to 1.97 per cent, while metal, energy and capital goods fell up to 0.51 per cent. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended up to 1.14 per cent higher.

Foreign institutional investors pumped in a net Rs 7,192.42 crore into the capital market on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 185.87 crore, data available with stock exchange showed.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated 12 paise to 71.02 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.13 per cent to $60.16 per barrel.