Nifty Settles At 11,571, Sensex Closes Above 38,280 For First Time

Domestic stock markets settled Tuesday's session on fresh closing highs after touching life-highs earlier in the session. Breaking its previous record closing of 11,551 hit on Monday, the NSE's Nifty50 index climbed 19.15 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 11,570.90. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 7.00 points, or 0.02 per cent, to end at 38,285.75, surpassing its previous record closing of 38,278 marked on Monday. Benchmark indices traded in green on renewed buying in pharmaceuticals and IT stocks amid optimism over US-China trade talks. A strengthened rupee against the US dollar aided the key indices to arrest the slide.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Coal India (+2.06%), Axis Bank (+1.92%), NTPC (+1.70%), Sun Pharma (+1.69%), Wipro (+1.48%) and Reliance Industries (+0.94%). Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma majorly contributed to the gains in the 30-share Sensex pack. UPL (+5.01%), Tech Mahindra (+2.99%), Coal India (+2.52%), Lupin (+2.29%) and Grasim (+2.27%) led the gains in the Nifty.

According to brokers, unabated buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and positive sentiment in world markets helped domestic markets scale fresh highs. Investors have kept their eyes ion US-China trade talks and are optimistic about a positive outcome. The tariff war between the two economies has been keeping global markets uncertain for a while now. But, the US-China trade talks, which are scheduled to take place through Tuesday and Wednesday, have led to an improvement in market sentiments, said analysts.

VK Sharma, Head Private Client Group & Capital Market Strategy at HDFC Securities said, "This was the 24th time that the Nifty made a new high this calendar year and the seventh in this month. We expect the markets to consolidate in the coming days with an upward bias. The gradual hike of the Nifty has left investors in a daze. Investors are worrying about a non-existing worry, political uncertainty. We believe the uncertainty is way down than what it was in the aftermath of Karnataka elections. Markets will continue to rise and industry facing private sector banks will do better."

Top laggards on the Sensex were Yes Bank (-0.72%), Bharti Airtel (-0.72%), Mahindra & Mahindra (-1.12%), Vedanta (-1.17%), Hindustan Unilever (-1.30%) and Tata Steel (-2.86%). Key losers on the Nifty were TTata Steel (-2.57%), BPCL (-1.77%), Vedanta (-1.35%), Hindustan Unilever (-1.33%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (-1.09%).

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 593.22 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 483.04 crore on Monday, provisional data from the NSE showed. (With agencies inputs)