BackTelecom scrips propel Sensex to record highs
Telecom scrips propel Sensex to record highs
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MUMBAI: The Indian sharemarket benchmark index , Sensex, closed 0.78 percent up at a record high on 5 February on overseas fund buying spurred by forecasts of continued rapid economic growth, dealers said. The buying was particularly hectic in telecom and automobile companies.
The 30-share Sensex rose 112.13 points to 14,515.9, beating its previous high of 14,403.77 last Friday.
The Sensex also hit a new all-time intraday peak of 14,526.51 on Monday from its previous record of 14,462.77 on Friday.
“The rally at the markets appears sustainable as fresh overseas interest has come in," said Atul Hatwar, a dealer with brokerage Crosseas Securities.
The trading day had started with Sensex and Nifty surging to all-time highs as buying interest was seen in telecom, auto and consumer durables stocks. Select media shares also spurted. The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) rode the bullish sentiment surrounding cellular firms like Bharti Airtel Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd in the world’s fastest growing mobile services market.
Brokerage J M Morgan Stanley said it expected the benchmark to reach 15,200 in the short-term.
“With the markets far away from being overbought on most technical studies and given the fresh pattern breakouts, the Sensex looks set to move higher by 500-800 points this month," analyst Gautam Shah wrote in a note to JM Morgan’s clients.
“Any minor intra-week pullback would find support at 14,300 and 14,000, close to which fresh buying can be done," he wrote.
Bharti Airtel rose 2.7 percent to ₹ 791.75 , while Reliance Communications gained 2.3 percent to ₹ 02 , helped by last month’s better-than-expected results and strong outlook.
“Going forward, we are positive on Bharti and Reliance Communications with many positive triggers helping both," said Sanjeev Hota, a telecoms analyst at Emkay Share and Stock Brokers Ltd., who has a “buy" on Bharti Airtel.
A race for India’s fourth-largest mobile firm, Hutchison Essar, is also expected to boost the valuation of telecoms stocks, analysts said. Suitors for Hutch include Britain’s Vodafone.
But aluminium and copper producer Hindalco Industries fell, tracking a near 5-percent slide in London metal futures on reports large losses at a major hedge fund. Hindalco dropped 3.2 percent at Rs177 .
In the broader market, gainers beat losers 1,480 to 926 on volume of 141.2 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index rose 0.4 percent to 4,201.55 points.
Karachi and Colombo markets were closed for local holiday.
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