Nifty ends above 7,900-mark for first time, Sensex rises 59 points

Mumbai: Indian stocks markets continued their dream run with Nifty on August 22 ending above 7,900-mark for the first time and the Sensex rising to 26,419.55, just shy of its record close, on robust buying in IT and banking stocks. The sentiment was positive on account of RBI's comments on growth, continued buying by institutions and retail investors combined with bullishness in global markets ahead of Fed chief Janet Yellen's speech at Jackson Hole, brokers said.

HDFC Bank, Infosys, SBI, TCS, Axis Bank, Hindalco, Wipro and Cipla notched handsome gains and supported the Sensex rise while gains were trimmed by fall in HDFC, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, HUL and Hero MotoCorp shares. IT stocks were in the limelight on positive US economic data, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms.

The broader 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE resumed better and immediately crossed 7,900-mark to an intra-day all-time peak of 7,929.05 before settling up by 22.10 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 7,913.20  -- also a new closing high. The 30-share BSE Sensex resumed higher and rallied to a high of 26,508.27 before surrending some ground to finish with a net gain of 59.44 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 26,419.55.

This is a shade lower than its all-time closing peak of 26,420.67 logged on August 19, 2014. ""Mid-caps out-performed larger peers, indicating greater interest from non-institutional players. Reduced geo-political tensions and optimism on future growth buoyed sentiments," said Dipen Shah, Head-PCG Research, Kotak Securities.

Small-cap shares attracted some profit-booking by retail investors after recent rally while some of the mid-cap counters were in demand. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) continued their buying spree and picked up shares worth Rs 412.77 crore yesterday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges. The rally helped both Sensex and Nifty rise by over 1.5 per cent this week, their second successive weekly gain.