Sensex above 34k, Nifty hits 10k as finance stocks surge

Mumbai: The Indian equity indices gained for the sixth straight session with the BSE Sensex closing over the 34,000 mark and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) settling over the psychological level of 10,000 points.

Healthy buying was witnessed across sectors led by the banking and finance stocks. The S&P BSE Banking index closed higher by 2.07 per cent and the BSE Finance rose 1.86 per cent.

Inflow of foreign institutional investments (FII) was a major boost for the market during the day. Net FII purchase was Rs 1,851.12 crore while the net value of stocks sold by domestic institutional investors was Rs 781.79 crore.

Rahul Sharma, Head of Research at Equity99 Advisors said: “Liquidity driven rally pulled the markets high for the sixth straight day with strong FPI buying in select mid-cap, banking and NBFC stocks. Traders confidence also boosted with NSE’s Nifty reclaiming the crucial 10,000 level after nearly three months.”

He said that traders also got support from a strong rally in Asian markets.

Major Asian markets have closed on a positive note and European indices including the FTSE, DAX and CAC also ended higher.

On the technical front, Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities said: “With the Nifty moving up further after breaking out of the high of 9,179 last Wednesday, the bulls seem to be in control. Further upsides are likely in the near term once the immediate highs of 10,176 are taken out. Short term supports are now at 10,035.”

The Nifty50 on Wednesday ended at 10,061.55, higher by 82.45 points or 0.83 per cent from the previous close of 9,979.10.

The Sensex closed at 34,109.54, higher by 284.01 points or 0.84 per cent from the previous close of 33,825.53. It had opened at 34,185.41 and touched an intra-day high of 34,488.69 and a low of 34,027.50 points.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra (up 4.82 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 3.31 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (up 2.83 per cent). The major losers were NTPC (down 2.12 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1.13 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.13 per cent).