Stock indices rise to life-time highs on earnings optimism

Benchmark BSE Sensex continued its record setting streak for a second day, rising by 106.50 points to close at fresh peak of 36,825.10 as index heavyweight Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and HDFC advanced. 

The 30-share index also scaled a new record trading high of 36,902.06 points in day trade. It had hit its previous record intra-day high of 36,749.69 yesterday.  

The broader NSE Nifty also finished at fresh record high of 11,134.30, up 49.55 points or 0.45 per cent, as 32 of its 50 constituents gained. The 50-issue index surpassed its previous record closing of 11,130.40 hit on January 29.

Larsen & Toubro rose the most by 3.36 per cent among Sensex scrips after its IT arm L&T Infotech Ltd posted a strong 35 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit at Rs 361.2 crore yesterday.  

Asian Paints, Vedanta Ltd, Adani Ports and Infosys also advanced up to 2.3 per cent, helping the index scale record high levels.

"Market extended the rally on prospects of earnings growth and positive global market. In the last trading sessions, FII's inflows improved marginally while oil prices dropped, and respite was seen in mid & small cap after recent underperformance," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.

Sustained FII inflows and fresh spell of buying by domestic institutional investors supported the stocks at record levels, brokers said.

Tata Steel, Coal India, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Power Grid, ONGC, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ITC, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI also rose up to 1.91 per cent.

Profit booking in index major TCS, Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank and Hindustan Unilever, however, restricted Sensex gains. 

Hero MotoCorp fell the most by 1.97 per cent among Sensex shares after concerns over price war among two-wheeler makers.

Bajaj Auto also fell by 1.42 per cent.  

Kotak Bank dropped 1.71 per cent, Wipro 0.98 per cent, RIL 0.86 per cent, Yes Bank 0.84 per cent, NTPC 0.57 per cent, Bharti Airtel 0.45 per cent, TCS 0.41 per cent and ICICI Bank 0.13 per cent on profit-booking.

The broader markets also displayed a firm trend with small-cap index rising by 2.21 per cent and mid-cap index by 1.77 per cent.

Cement stocks rallied over 12 per cent after ACC reported a better-than-expected consolidated net profit of Rs 329 crore for the June quarter. 

ACC rose by 12.86 per cent followed India Cements 9.35 per cent, Ambuja Cements 7.45 per cent, Dalmia Bharat 7.40 per cent, Orient Cement 7.05 per cent, Birla Corporation 7.57 per cent, Grasim Industries 8.34 per cent, JK Cement 2.53 per cent, UltraTech Cement 3.30 per cent and Shree Cement 5.53 per cent.

Liquor firm Radico Khaitan ended higher 4.44 per cent after the company today reported 84.46 per cent jump in its standalone net profit to Rs 47.37 crore for the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Liquor major United Spirits rose 0.64 per cent after the company yesterday reported about 29 per cent rise in its standalone net profit at Rs 81.3 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, metal index rose the most by surging 2.87 per cent, followed by realty 2.80 per cent, capital goods 2.56 per cent, infrastructure 2.22 per cent, healthcare 1.46 per cent, power 1.40 per cent, PSU 1.37 per cent, consumer durables 1.34 per cent, oil & gas 0.96 per cent, auto 0.94 per cent, teck 0.55 per cent, IT 0.54 per cent and FMCG 0.11 per cent. While bankex fell 0.13 per cent.

Globally, the rally in Asian markets led by Chinese shares after a stimulus plan by the government and encouraging financial results by some companies. 

Key Asian indices, Shanghai Composite Index up 1.61 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.44 per and Japan's Nikkei, up 0.51 per cent.

Among European markets, Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.38 per cent and Paris CAC 40 up 0.07 per cent in their early session. London"s FTSE, however, down 0.17 per cent.