D-St investors richer by over Rs 2 lakh crore as Sensex, Nifty extend record run

Indian benchmark indices Nifty50 and Sensex extended their record run for a third day on Tuesday, driven by gains in banking and IT stocks, and bolstered by positive trends in global markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex surged 308 points or 0.40% to settle at 77,301. The broader NSE Nifty gained 92 points or 0.39% to end at 23,558.

Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE surged by Rs 2.42 lakh crore to Rs 437.3 lakh crore.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Realty surged 1.9%, led by Phoenix Mills and Mahindra Lifespace Developers. IT company Wipro closed over 3% higher after it said it extended its contract with Hanesbrands and announced a new one with GBST. Nifty IT index, overall, gained 0.6%.

Nifty Bank index also closed 0.9% higher, led by IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank. In the broader market, Nifty Smallcap rose 1.1%, while Nifty Midcap100 surged 0.5%.

Among individual stocks, Hindustan Aeronautics closed over 6% higher after the company announced that the Defence Ministry had issued a request for proposal (RFP) for 156 light combat helicopters (LCH).

Som Distilleries tumbled 6.4% after Indian police launched an investigation into the company following the government's child rights agency finding that children were employed at one of its distilleries.

Experts Take

"The Indian market is responding positively to the upcoming budget, which is anticipated to strike a balance between growth and populism. Similarly, it is also taking cues from positive global market trends, with the US moving steadily towards the presidential election in November. Market volatility has decreased over the month, which is contributing to a short-term trend," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said, "For the last few days, Nifty has been moving sideways on an intraday basis, but eventually, it has moved up above 23,500. The trend looks positive from here, with support placed at 23,300. A fall below 23,300 might induce selling pressure. On the higher end, the index might move towards 23,800."

Global Market

World shares ticked higher on Tuesday as an uneasy calm held in Europe and traders awaited remarks from a bevy of U.S. Federal Reserve officials.

Europe's STOXX 600 share index was up 0.2%, with the French benchmark flat, the spread between German and French bonds narrowed and the euro held steady.

Earlier in the day, Asian shares rose, following on from Monday's gains on Wall Street, and that left MSCI's world share index up 0.14%, not far off last week's all-time highs.

Crude Oil

Oil prices were largely stable on Tuesday, as traders awaited signs of a hoped-for summer demand boost to prop up prices even as strong supply threatens to blunt gains.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $84.09 per barrel after climbing in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, which also rose on Monday, were down 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $80.18 a barrel. Both benchmarks gained around 2% on Monday, closing at their highest levels since April.

Rupee Strengthen

The Indian rupee strengthened on Tuesday on dollar sales by state-run banks and likely inflows that helped the currency break out of the narrow range it traded in last week.

The rupee closed at 83.41 against the U.S. dollar, up 0.2% from its close at 83.5550 on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)