Sensex, Nifty climb to fresh all-time peak

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks darted up to fresh all-time highs on Monday as investors accumulated energy, infra and banking stocks amid supportive macroeconomic cues. A strengthening rupee and robust foreign fund inflows further buoyed sentiment, traders said. After touching its record intra-day peak of 46,373.34, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 154.45 points or 0.34 per cent higher at 46,253.46, its new closing record. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 44.30 points or 0.33 per cent to finish at a record 13,558.15.

It hit a lifetime high of 13,597.50 during the session. ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.91 per cent, followed by L&T, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Titan and Asian Paints. On the other hand, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were among the main laggards, dropping up to 1.98 per cent. Global markets were on a firm footing as a last-minute extension to Britain-EU talks calmed fears over a no-deal Brexit. "Domestic equities remained firm and witnessed fresh record highs mainly supported by continued rebound in PSU banks.

Barring auto, most of sectoral indices traded in positive range. Notably, volatility index shot up sharply today indicating unease about current valuations of the market. "Positive data flows along with persistent FPI flows have been quite supportive for the markets," said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.