The benchmark indices closed at their lifetime highs for the third straight session as elections draw near. The BSE Sensex ended 0.54% or 119.07 points higher at 22,214.37 points, while the NSE?s Nifty closed 40.35 points or 0.61% higher at 6,641.75 on Thursday.
The Sensex gained as much as 0.96% to touch its all-time intraday high of 22,305.19 points, while the Nifty touched its lifetime intraday high of 6,627.45 with gains of 1.1%.
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On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought another $363 million worth of equities, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold $98.13 million worth of equities. FIIs have been net buyers in 29 of the last 30 trading sessions at $4.14 billion. In year to date, FIIs have bought $3.81 billion.
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Asian markets showed a mixed trend. Nikkei (1.01%) and Kospi (0.70%) ended in the green, while Shanghai Composite (-0.83%) and Jakarta Composite (-0.11%) ended in the red. Among European Indices, FTSE 100 00 (-0.40%), DAX (-0.02%) and CAC (-0.05%), were trading in the red at 4.45 pm IST.
Back home, 20 out of 30 Sensex traded in the green. In broader markets, the breadth remained strong with 1,669 advances against 1,137 declines. Most sectoral indices ended in the green. The BSE Consumer Durables (1.46%), BSE Oil & Gas (1.28%) and BSE Realty (1.06%) were the major gainers.
The State Bank of India (4.04%) gained the most on the BSE after Goldman Sachs upgraded the state-owned lender along with Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda.
The PNB scrip ended 3.64% higher at R704.75, while shares of Bank of Baroda ended 2.28% higher at R694.50. The brokerage said stressed assets are likely to decline as the economy improves. Bharti Airtel (4%), Hero Moto Corp (3.11%) and Gail (1.75%) were the other major gainers.
Experts feel the markets could enter into a volatile phase going ahead. ?Until the election phase, we might see more volatality in the markets. Nifty could see some amount of consolidation and could stretch to a 6,800-odd. 7,200 levels might be achieved only after the election results,? Yogesh Radke, head of quantitative research, Edelweiss Capital, said.
The NSE cash turnover on Thursday stood at R20,475.33 crore, while the turnover in the F&O segment stood at R3.77 lakh crore.
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