File Photo | Photo source: REUTERS
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally lower on Friday as investors saw gains in FMCG, IT and healthcare stocks after the BSE Sensex and Nifty indices touched modern multi-year highs in intraday trades.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 7.65 points or 0.01% to settle at 75,410.39. It rose 218.46 points, or 0.28%, on the day to reach an all-time high of 75,636.50.
The NSE Nifty index crossed the 23,000 mark for the first time in early trade.
On the day, the benchmark rose 58.75 points, or 0.25%, to hit a lifetime high of 23,026.40. However, it pared all gains and ended marginally lower by 10.55 points, or 0.05%, to 22,957.10.
Markets posted record gains for the second consecutive day ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The results of the ongoing general election will be announced on June 4.
Of the Sensex companies, the major laggards included Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, JSW Steel and ITC.
On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were the top gainers.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) found buyers on Thursday after days of sell-off in shares. As per stock exchange data, they bought shares worth ₹ 4,670.95 crore on May 23.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong posted lower ratings.
European markets saw cuts. Thursday’s session on Wall Street ended in the red.
Global price benchmark Brent crude fell 0.73% to $80.77 a barrel.
With almost two weeks left for the Lok Sabha polls, benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rose over 1.6% to close at their highest-ever levels on May 23.
