Select buying in index heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank pushed the benchmark Sensex to a new high on Monday even as the broader Nifty came close to the psychological 10,000 mark.
The 30-share Sensex gained 216.98 points to close at 32,245.87. The Sensex pack saw 17 stocks gaining ground with Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank leading the pack. Earlier in the day, HDFC Bank reported a 20% rise in its net profit at Rs.3,893.8 crore for the quarter ended June 30.
The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day at a new high of 9,966.40, up 51.15 points. It touched a high of 9,982.05 during intra-day trading.
Incidentally, the gains were on the back of selective buying in index majors that was corroborated by the negative market breadth. On BSE, a total of 1,413 stocks lost ground as against 1,303 gainers.
Further, while 212 stocks on BSE were locked at their upper circuit on Monday, there were 168 stocks that touched their lower circuit.
Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities attributed the day's rally to selective buying in index heavyweights even as mid-caps and small-caps witnessed selling pressure thereby leading to an overall negative market breadth.
“Participants preferred index majors over the midcap and smallcap which pushed the Nifty higher but the market breadth ended on flat note... Now, we expect consolidation or profit taking ahead. Some of the index majors will announce their numbers during the week and that would dictate the market trend,” said Mr Manglik.
