Key equity indices faltered by giving up their record hit in early part of the day as the Sensex was barely above 31,000 and the Nifty hovered around 9,600. Buying in heavyweight stocks as well as key FMCG and consumer durables kept the upside going. Sentiment was muted as most of the major world markets were shut today. Investors waited for the next batch of corporate results due for release today.
Realty, healthcare, IT, technology, industrials, capital goods, banks and auto segments saw investors taking profit off the table. The BSE 30-share Sensex resumed on a negative note, but bounced to a fresh life high of 31,155.40, surpassing its previous high of 31,074.07 recorded on May 26. At 1119 hours, the index traded at 31,068.90, up 40.69 points, 0.13 per cent. The index had gained 726.57 points in the previous two sessions.
Ditto with the NSE 50-share Nifty, which soared to an intra-day life high, but then traded in a range as it was up by only 2.20 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 9,597.30 at 1119 hours. The big gainers were ITC (2.87 per cent), followed by HUL 2 per cent, HDFC 1.79 per cent PowerGrid 1.63 per cent. Sun Pharma gave up 11.58 per cent, Adani 3.99 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.73 per cent and Infosys 0.98 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 274.14 crore last Friday, as per provisional data. Overseas, Asian markets were mostly flat after the latest ballistic missile test by North Korea. Key exchanges are closed for public holidays. US stocks closed mixed last Friday ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
