Sensex hits record closing high

Mumbai, Oct 31 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian stock markets Thursday hit a record closing high of 21,164.52 points, helped by strong buying in bank and consumer durables scrips.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed 130.55 points or 0.62 percent higher at 21,164.52 points. This is the highest closing level of the benchmark index.

The Sensex breached its previous highest closing mark on Wednesday at 21,033.97 points. The benchmark index's highest closing till Wednesday stood at 21,004 points registered Nov 5,2010.

The Sensex is just a mere 0.19 percent away from its record high of 21,206.77 points on Jan 10, 2008. It touched an intra-day high of 21,205.44 points in Wednesday's trading.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also made healthy gains. The Nifty closed 0.76 percent or 47.45 points higher at 6,299.15 points.

There was healthy buying support in bank, consumer goods, metal, public sector undertakings (PSU) and oil and gas stocks. However, healthcare companies fell.

The S&P BSE Bank index was up 248.13 points, followed by consumer durables index which gained 163.03 points, metal index, up 156.41 points, PSU index, up 139.99 points, and oil and gas index, up 126.87 points.

However, the BSE healthcare index declined 122.60 points.

Prominent Sensex gainers were: State Bank of India (SBI), up 4.33 percent at Rs.1,795.50; Tata Steel, up 2.45 percent at Rs.33.40; Gail India, 2.31 percent at Rs.352.85; Tata Power, up 1.99 percent at Rs.82.05; and ICICI Bank, up 1.96 percent at Rs.1,121.05.

Only nine of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the red. Dr Reddy's Lab, down 2.64 percent at Rs.2,455.95; Sun Pharma, down 1.72 percent at Rs.607.95; Cipla, down 1.16 percent at Rs.431.95; Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), down 0.97 percent at 888.35; and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.67 percent at Rs.609.25 were among the major Sensex losers.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.20 percent down, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.42 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.87 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.44 percent lower, and Germany's DAX Index was down 0.19 percent. The French CAC 40 Index gained 0.18 percent.

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Sensex ends at record closing high; lenders surge

By Indulal PM

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose on Thursday to a record closing high as state-run lenders such as State Bank of India rallied on hopes of stabilising asset quality and attractive valuations.

The Sensex gained 9.2 percent in October, its biggest monthly gain since January 2012 on strong foreign inflows as a delay in the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering of monetary stimulus led to a surge of money in risk assets.

Overseas investors were net buyers for a 19th consecutive session on Wednesday, bringing their total buying to nearly 160 billion rupees during that period.

The Sensex rose to an intraday high of 21,205.44, just short of the all-time high of 21,206.77 seen in January 2008.

The index has now gained 21.3 percent since it hit an intraday yearly low of 17,448.71 on August 28.

"We are seeing strong support from institutional investors. Markets can go up to another 100 points (in Nifty). Going forward, there could be profit-taking after Diwali," said Suresh Parmar, head of institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.

"Stock and sector specific rally could continue, especially in IT stocks," he added.

The Sensex rose 0.62 percent, or 130.55 points, to close at 21,164.52.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 0.76 percent, or 47.45 points, to end at 6,299.15.

The rally was led by state lenders including State Bank of India which closed 4.4 percent higher, while Bank of Indiarose 21.47 percent, Bank of Baroda was up 10.61 percent and Canara Bank gained 10.79 percent.

Among other stocks, Tata Steel gained 2.54 percent, Reliance Industries rose 1.84 percent and ICICI Bank 2 percent.

However, shares of pharmaceutical companies fell on profit taking. Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 2.65 percent, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries lost 1.57 percent and Cipla Ltd fell 1.48 percent.

(Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)

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Sensex hits record closing high of 21,034 points

Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS) Sensex, the benchmark index of Indian stock markets, Wednesday hit a record closing high of 21,034 points, helped by strong buying support from foreign funds.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed 104.96 points or 0.50 percent higher at 21,033.97 points. This is the highest closing level of the benchmark index.

The previous highest closing level of the Sensex was 21,004 points registered Nov 5, 2010.

The Sensex is also not far from its record high of 21,206.77 points touched Jan 10, 2008.

The benchmark Sensex touched a high of 21,086.59 points in intra-day trading Wednesday.

The Indian stock markets rallied for the second consecutive day after the Reserve Bank of India hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points along expected lines and cut Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate to ease liquidity. Interest rate-sensitive banking stocks have rallied following the RBI move.

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