Sensex breaches 27,000 mark as record spree continues
Nifty added 0.69%, or 55.35 points, to end at 8,083.05
Mumbai: The Sensex, India’s benchmark equities index, breached 27,000 points, while the Nifty hit 8,100 for the first time, led by gains in healthcare and reality stocks.
In intra-day trade, the 30-share Sensex hit a record high of 27,082.85 points, while the broader 50-share CNX Nifty hit a record of 8,101.95 points.
The Sensex has been rising for eight consecutive trading sessions and has hit an all-time high for a fourth consecutive day. The BSE index has attained the 27,000 mark in just 39 trading sessions after it had hit 26,000 points.
The Sensex closed 0.57%, or 151.84 points, higher at 27,019.39, while the Nifty added 0.69%, or 55.35 points, to end at 8,083.05.
The S&P BSE Consumer Durables index was the top sectoral gainer, up 2.76%.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to give India ¥3.5 trillion (over $33.58 billion) in public and private investment besides overseas development assistance over the next five years to fund next-generation infrastructure, connectivity, transport systems, smart cities, and manufacturing, clean energy and skill development.
The gainers included Cipla Ltd, which rose 5.23% to ₹ 557.40 after it reported that it has launched an anti-asthma inhaler in Germany and Sweden that is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Advair, a move that will further dent sales of the British firm’s top-selling product. Bharti Airtel Ltd gained 4.24% to ₹ 391.90 after the company said that its arm signed an agreement to acquire over 2.7 million subscribers of yuMobile.
Among the losers, Sesa Sterlite Ltd fell 1.87% to ₹ 277.60 and Tata Power Co. Ltd fell 1.05% to ₹ 89.10.
Since the beginning of this year, the Sensex has gained 27.43%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $12.91 billion from local equity markets.
India’s current account deficit, or the sum of the balance of trade and invisibles such as remittances and software earnings, fell to $7.8 billion, or 1.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), in the June quarter from 4.8% of GDP, or $21.8 billion, in the year-ago period. However, it was higher than 0.2% of GDP or $1.2 billion in fiscal fourth quarter (January-March) of 2013-14.
On Monday, the government requested the Supreme Court that 46 coal mines could be conditionally exempted from de-allocation. The final decision in the allocations case is likely on 9 September.
India’s core sector, or infrastructure output growth slowed to a three-month low of 2.7% in July, dragged down by a contraction in production of natural gas, steel, fertilisers and refinery products after rising 7.3% in June.
A monthly meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled for 4 September, and there are expectations that the ECB will announce quantitative easing in the coming months to strengthen growth in the euro zone, which may boost market sentiment.
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