Nifty scales fresh closing high, up 63 points

Mumbai: The NSE benchmark Nifty extended its rally by 62.60 points to end at a fresh closing high of 10,077 on sustained buying mainly in banking, infra, energy and metal amid firm global markets.

The hope of a rate cut in the RBI’s upcoming monetary policy review led the rally. However, overall market movement was constrained by pharma and FMCG sectors which were under pressure.

Overseas, European stocks gained with shares of miners advancing on the last day of trade in July. Most Asian stocks settled higher after a muted opening as what was a strong July for most markets in the region comes to a close.

The 50-share Nifty opened higher at 10,034.70 and moved in a range of 10,085.90 and 10,016.95 before ending at 10,077.10, up 62.60 points or 0.63 per cent from its last close.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 68.95 points. Sector-wise, PSU bank rose by 3.62 per cent, metal (1.65 per cent), infra (1.27 per cent), energy (1.25 per cent), bank (1.18 per cent), finance service (1.00 per cent) and private bank (0.82 per cent). Among the losers were: pharma (2.03 per cent), FMCG (1.11 per cent) and media (0.20 per cent).

Major index gainers were SBIN, Power Grid, ONGC, Bank of Baroda, Tata Steel, Larsen, ONGC and ICICI Bank. Index losers included Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy, Lupin, ITC, Yes Bank, BPCL, Gail and InfraTel.

Mixed trading scenario was observed in broader markets, the Nifty midcap rose by 0.25 per cent, while smallcap indices eased by 0.03 per cent. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was tilted towards the losers.

A total of 891 scrips declined, 809 advanced while 84 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 133.

Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 28,679.90 crore from Rs 29,250.06 crore, last Friday. A total of 14,002.05 lakh shares changed hands in 9,090,599 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,31,21,441.34 crore.

PTI