Sensex hits record high for second day; up 36 points to 21,373.66

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday scaled a new high of 21,373.66 by gaining 36 points on buying in select stocks in an otherwise lacklustre trade. This is for the second successive day that the key index is hitting record high level. On Wednesday, the barometer rose by 87 points to close at all-time high of 21,337.67.

A smart rise in heavyweights like L&T, HDFC, Infosys, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, ITC, Bharati Airtel and GAIL India helped the Sensex to log its historical closing high and extent gains for the fourth straight trading day in a row.

The 30-issue bellwether index initially dipped to a low of 21,264.71 on weak Asian cues, but gradually recovered after mid-session and crossed 21,400-mark. It was just 74 points short of its life-time intra-day high of 21,483.74, recorded on December 9, 2013.

Finally, the Sensex closed higher by 35.99 points or 0.17 per cent at 21,373.66.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was the most sought after stock after the company reported a 22.44 per cent rise in standalone net profit for the December quarter. The construction and engineering giant was the top Sensex gainer at 2.81 per cent.

Though the Sensex is setting new closing records, the second rank counters underperformed the index, mainly due to profit-booking by wary retail investors at higher levels. The BSE-Midcap and Smallcap indices closed down by 0.48 per cent and 0.12 per cent respectively.

The 50-issue Nifty of NSE settled at 6,345.65, up by 6.70 points or 0.11 per cent. Its record all-time closing high was 6,363.90, registered on December 9, 2013.

Jignesh Chaudhary, Head Of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: "Indian markets continued their rang-bound trading in the absence of fresh triggers. Markets are going to witness another day of subdued trading tomorrow, ahead of RBI's policy decision meeting scheduled on January 28."

Big Sensex gainers included Axis Bank at 2.48 per cent, Gail India 2.43 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.90 per cent, HDFC 1.64 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.58 per cent and BHEL 0.92 per cent. M&M was the biggest loser of the day at 2.82 per cent, followed by ONGC 1.33 per cent, NTPC 1.09 per cent, Coal India 0.99 per cent, TCS 0.89 per cent and Tata Steel 0.84 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, consumer durables index firmed up by 2.33 per cent and consumer goods 1.84 per cent; auto dropped by 1.05 per cent and Oil&Gas 0.46 per cent. The market breadth turned negative as 1,453 stocks ended in red, 1,255 finished in green while 132 ruled steady. Total turnover fell to Rs 1,876.47 crore from Rs 1,905.14 crore yesterday.

On global front, Asian stocks ended lower today after a private gauge of China's manufacturing in January unexpectedly contracted. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by 0.35-1.51 per cent.

However, european markets were trading narrowly mixed as indices Germany and UK eased by 0.17 0.25 per cent, while Germany's DAX was up 0.15 per cent.

Next: Rupee ends at two-week low of 61.93 against dollar

Rupee ends at two-week low of 61.93 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee lost 12 paise on Thursday to close at two-week low of 61.93 against the American currency on fresh dollar demand from importers.

A steep fall in dollar overseas amid signs of continued capital inflows restricted the rupee decline, a forex dealer said. The dollar index was down by 0.44 per cent against six other major currencies.

Data showed that manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers' index) for the euro area rose to a 32-month high in January, beating analysts’ expectations and providing evidence that the region is recovering.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market here, the domestic unit resumed lower at 61.95 a dollar from previous close of 61.81. It was trapped in a narrow range of 61.89 and 62.04 before finishing at two-week low of 61.93, a fall of 12 paise or 0.19 per cent. This is the lowest close in two weeks. It had settled at 62.07 on January 9, 2014.

The benchmark BSE Sensex continued its upward march for the fourth session in a row and registered its an all-time closing high of 21,373.66, gaining 36 points.

FIIs picked up shares worth USD 46.64 million yesterday, as per Sebi data.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India), said: "Dollar demand from oil importers forced rupee to close on a weak note." Forward dollar premiums fell back on fresh receipts by exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in June declined to 210-212 paise from 213.5-215.5 paise.

Far forward contracts maturing in December softened to 447-449 paise from 448.5-450.5 paise previously.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 61.98 and for the euro at 83.97.

The rupee dropped further to 102.81 against the pound from 102.27 and also remained weak to end at 84.44 per euro from 83.76 previously. The local currency declined to 59.37 per 100 Japanese yen from 59.24.