Markets race to record highs on govt's booster dose

Benchmark Sensex breached the 33,000-mark for the first time while the Nifty too ended at a fresh life high today after the government's Rs 9 lakh crore booster package lit up banking and infra stocks.

The 30-share Sensex surged 435.16 points, or 1.33 per cent -- its biggest single session gain since May 25 when it had surged 448.39 points -- to close at a new peak of 33,042.50.

The broader 50-share Nifty finished at its fresh lifetime high of 10,295.35, up by 87.65 points, or 0.86 per cent.

Banking and infra counters led the charge after the government yesterday announced various measures to spur the economy, including a Rs 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for PSU banks and a massive Rs 6.92 lakh crore road building programme.

Banking behemoth SBI zoomed 27.58 per cent to emerge as the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, while private peers ICICI Bank and Axis Bank soared up to 14.69 per cent.

Other prominent gainers in the state-run banking space were PNB, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Allahabad Bank, IDBI Bank and Syndicate Bank, rising by up to 46.20 per cent.

Major road builders such as Ashoka Buildcon, Sadbhav Infrastructure Projects and J Kumar Infraprojects also gained up to 8.71 per cent.

"Government's recapitalisation plan sparked astonishingly steep gains in PSBs, while short covering ahead of F&O expiry also added momentum.

"Giddy levels though saw profit booking in sectors other than banks, as investors continued to mix and match the earnings and valuations with more key earnings still to play out," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

After a gap up opening, the Sensex crossed the 33,000- mark for the first time to scale an all-time high of 33,117.33 in early trade on the back of run-up in PSU banks and heavy short-covering ahead of tomorrow's October month expiry in the derivatives segment.

Despite profit-booking at record levels, it finished at a new peak of 33,042.50, up 435.16 points, or 1.33 per cent. It smashed its previous record closing of 32,633.64 reached on October 16.

The gauge has gained 224.41 points in the previous two straight sessions.

The broader Nifty also hit a record intra-day high of 10,340.55 during the session, before finally concluding at 10,295.35, up 87.65 points, or 0.86 per cent.

It bettered its previous record closing of 10,234.45 reached on October 17.

Firmness in Asian stocks and unabated buying by domestic institutional investors also provided key support.

Optimism over better-than-expected Q2 earnings by some bluechip companies also fuelled the bull-run, brokers said.

Sentiment also remained upbeat on persistent buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs), who bought shares worth Rs 592.28 crore yesterday.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold to the tune of Rs 1,306.76 crore, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Among sectoral indices, PSU rose the most by surging 8.07 per cent, followed by bankex 4.71 per cent, capital goods 3.33 per cent, infrastructure 2.23 per cent, power 1.15 per cent, auto 0.63 per cent and teck 0.54 per cent.

The broader markets were mixed, with midcap index rising 0.42 per cent, while smallcap index shed 0.19 per cent.

Other gainers were L&T, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, M&M, Infosys, Wipro, ITC Ltd, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid, rising up to 5.65 per cent.

Overseas, Asian bourses displayed a mixed trend, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 0.51 per cent, Shanghai Composite gaining 0.26 per cent while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.45 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.18 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.16 per cent in late morning trade.

London's FTSE fell 0.08 per cent.