Image used for representational purposes only | Photo source: REUTERS
The Sensex touched the 76,000 level for the first time while the Nifty touched a fresh lifetime high before closing marginally lower on Monday in highly volatile trading as investors booked profits in the last 30 minutes of trading.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 19.89 points or 0.03% lower at 75,390.50. During the day, the barometer rose 599.29 points or 0.79% to reach an all-time high of 76,009.68 as share prices of selected companies from the banking, finance and IT sectors rose. However, investors preferred to book profits at record levels and the index fell about 835 points from an intraday high to a low of 75,175.27.
The broader Nifty index on the NSE fell 24.65 points or 0.11% to close at 22,932.45. The 50-issue barometer rose 153.7 points, or 0.66%, to hit a fresh all-time high of 23,110.80 on the day. However, it fell by around 240 points at the end due to selling in oil, energy and FMCG stocks.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell almost 1%, pulling benchmark indices into negative territory. The sale of FMCG giant ITC also weakened profits.
Equity benchmarks posted a record gain for the third consecutive day ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and a rally in global indices. The results of the ongoing general election will be announced on June 4.
The Sensex crossed the historic mark of 75,000 points for the first time on April 9. It took 31 trading sessions before the benchmark rose 1,000 points and reached 76,000 points on Monday. The BSE benchmark took 21 trading sessions to reach the 75,000 level on April 9, after touching 74,000 on March 6.
Among the Sensex companies, the biggest laggards included Wipro, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC and Reliance Industries.
The top gainers were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India.
On Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong achieved positive results.
European markets also traded in the green. Friday’s session on Wall Street ended with gains.
Global price benchmark Brent crude rose 0.38% to $82.44 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) withdrew shares worth ₹ 944.83 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.
On Friday, the BSE benchmark fell 7.65 points or 0.01% to settle at 75,410.39.
On Friday, Nifty crossed the 23,000 mark for the first time. However, it recovered all its gains and ended marginally lower by 10.55 points or 0.05% to 22,957.10.
