Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks; IT stocks shine

Indian benchmark equity indices settled at fresh lifetime highs on Tuesday, amid weak global cues. After swinging between gains and losses, the BSE Sensex surged 209.69 points or 0.38% towards the fag-end of the trading session to settle at record 55,792.27. During the day, the 30-share index touched a fresh high of 55,854.88. Likewise, the NSE Nifty advanced 51.55 points or 0.31% to end the day at record closing peak of 16,614.60. The 50-share index hit lifetime intraday high of 16,628.55. TechM, closing over 2% higher was the top Sensex gainer followed by TCS, Nestle, Infosys, HUL and Titan. IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, L&T and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the top laggards. Most sectoral indices on the NSE closed in the red. IT and FMCG stocks led the rally, while metals, banks and financials were under pressure. Nifty IT, rallying about 2.6%, was the top sectoral gainer followed by Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma. On the other hand, Nifty Metal, closing over 2% lower, was the top sectoral laggard followed by Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Bank. Overall market breadth was negative as 2,027 shares declined on the BSE, while 1,141 advanced and 120 remained unchanged. In the previous session, Sensex ended 145.29 points or 0.26% higher at a new peak of 55,582.58, and Nifty advanced 33.95 points or 0.21% to a fresh high of 16,563.05. In Asia, stock exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was positive. Equities in the US largely ended on a positive note in overnight trade.