Markets scale new highs, RIL breaches Rs 8 lakh crore market cap mark

The BSE Sensex jumped 51 points to a fresh closing peak of 38,336.76, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 11.85 points to record 11,582.75.

Persistent buying by both foreign and domestic investors offset concerns related to the rupee and global trade, brokers said.

The rupee once again breached the 70-mark against the US dollar amid robust demand for the greenback.

On the global front, the US slapped tariffs on another USD 16 billion of Chinese imports, which Beijing vowed to retaliate.

Construction major L&T was the biggest gainer among the Sensex components, spurting 2.30 per cent, after the company said its board has approved a Rs 9,000-crore share buyback plan.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) became the first Indian company to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore market capitalisation mark. RIL shares rose 1.86 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 1,269.70.

The 30-share Sensex opened strong and scaled an all-time (intra-day) high of 38,487.63 in early trade.

However, it succumbed to profit booking to slip to 38,227.36, before finally ending at 38,336.76 points, up 51.01 points, or 0.13 per cent.

It bettered its previous record closing of 38,285.75 reached on August 21.

The gauge has now gained 673.20 points in four sessions. The stock market was shut yesterday on account of Bakri Id.

The broader NSE Nifty also rose 11.85 points or 0.10 per cent to finish at 11,582.75 -- surpassing its previous record closing of 11,570.90 hit on August 21.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 254.25 crore and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 197.87 crore on Tuesday, provisional data showed.

"This was the 25th time this year calendar year that the Nifty has hit a new high. The market's resilience was commendable coming after a near 5 per cent rise in crude oil over the last two days coupled with a depreciation of the rupee.

"Pharma sector continued to do well for the second day running while the IT stocks also edged up. Bank Nifty closed lower in the weekly expiry," said V K Sharma, Head Private Client Group and Capital Market Strategy at HDFC Securities.

Other prominent Sensex gainers were Adani Ports 1.68 per cent, PowerGrid 1.47 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 1.43 per cent, ONGC 1.18 per cent, HUL 1.18 per cent, TCS 1.08 per cent, Infosys 1.08 per cent, Sun Pharma 0.61 per cent, M&M 0.43 per cent, Bharti Airtel 0.41 per cent and Wipro 0.35 per cent.

In contrast, Tata Motors slumped 4.33 per cent followed by Vedanta 2.01 per cent, Tata Steel 1.85 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.52 per cent, SBI 1.52 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.21 per cent, IndusInd Bank 0.90 per cent and Coal India 0.89 per cent, among others.

On the sectoral front, the BSE IT index jumped 1.16 per cent, followed by FMCG 1.12 per cent, capital goods 1.01 per cent, teck 0.91 per cent, energy 0.88 per cent, healthcare 0.81 per cent, power 0.66 per cent, infrastructure 0.42 per cent, realty 0.37 per cent and oil and gas 0.01 per cent.

While metal fell 1.54 per cent, bankex 0.83 per cent, PSU 0.53 per cent, consumer durbales 0.11 per cent and auto 0.11 per cent.

The broader markets too displayed a mixed trend, with the mid-cap index rising 0.20 per cent while the small-cap gauge shed 0.14 per cent.

Globally, Asian shares ended mixed amid fresh escalation in the Sino-US trade dispute.

Shanghai Composite index rose 0.37 per cent and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.22 per cent. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.49 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.11 per cent and Frankfurt DAX inched up 0.02 per cent in early deals. London's FTSE rose 0.01 per cent.

However, US stocks closed mostly lower yesterday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow snapping a four-day winning streak, as the minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee's meeting reaffirmed the central bank's hawkish bias.