Sensex scales 55,000; Nifty, too, soars to life-time high

Benchmark indices closed at record highs for the second consecutive session with Sensex breaching the 55,000-mark and Nifty surpassing 16,500 on Friday on positive economic data.

Bulls gained momentum after the market opened on a positive note following mixed global cues. The domestic market gained further, led by information technology stocks. A recovery in financials and consumer stocks also fuelled the rally further.

The BSE Sensex closed near its all-time high of 55,487.79, at 55,437.29, up 593.31 points or 1.08 per cent, over the previous day's close. It hit an intraday low of 54,905.49. The Nifty 50, after surpassing 16,500 to hit fresh high of 16,543.60, closed at 16,529.10, up 164.70 points or 1.01 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 16,376.30.

Decliners outnumber

Despite, benchmarks gathering speed, the breadth of the market remained in favour of decliners. As many as 1,651 stocks declined on the BSE, as compared to 1,565 stocks that advanced while 124 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 338 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 282 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 232 stocks touched 52-week high level and 20 touched a 52-week low

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Domestic main indices raised the bars, registering new highs, bolstered by favourable economic data and a strong performance by large caps like defensive sectors such as IT, FMCG and telecom.”

Tata Consumer, TCS, L&T, HCL Tech and Tata Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Eicher Motors, Dr Reddy, Powergrid, Cipla and Britannia were the top laggards.

Market sentiments were lifted further following the latest CPI inflation data.

After two consecutive 6 per cent+ prints, CPI inflation eased to 5.59 per cent on July 21, while core inflation (ex food, fuel and intoxicants) also eased to 5.86 per cent from 6.2 per cent. With inflation rates within RBI's tolerance band, it will help the central bank to continue its soft monetary policy stance for the next few quarters, aiding earnings, according to analysts.

However, investors must remain cautious and need to see the continuity of this trend, they added.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, "Buoyed by inflation numbers, Indices galloped their way to new highs powered by the IT index as TCS together with biggies like Larsen & Siemens stole the show even as Midcaps remained subdued. FMCG names lent good support today to the Sensex which has vaulted from 50k in just seven months to endorse that the Bull Market is still firmly in place."

Pharma, healthcare and realty under pressure

On the sectoral front, a majority of indices closed in the green.

While IT, FMCG and financials gained, pharma, healthcare and realty remained under pressure.

Nifty IT was up 1.35 per cent while Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were up 0.88 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively. Nifty Bank was up 0.65 per cent while Nifty Financial Services was up 0.68 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma was down 0.59 per cent while Nifty Healthcare Index was down 0.76 per cent. Nifty Realty was down 0.92 per cent.

Broader indices

After a sharp recovery in the last session, midcaps and smallcaps faced selling pressure on Friday.

The Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.61 per cent at closing while the Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.64 per cent.

The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.06 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.01 per cent.

The volatility index rose 4.99 per cent to 12.99 .

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