Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks; banking shares drive rally

PTI, Jun 15, 2021, 5:08 PM IST

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose for the fourth straight session to settle at fresh life-time highs on Tuesday as investors shrugged off concerns over rising inflation to focus on positive cues coming from global markets.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex quoted higher by 221.52 points or 0.42 per cent at a new peak of 52,773.05. The index also hit its all-time intraday high of 52,869.51 during the session.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty rose 57.40 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at a fresh high of 15,869.25. The NSE gauge too marked its life-time intraday high of 15,901.60.

On the Sensex chart, Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, Infosys and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy”s, Titan, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and PowerGrid were among the laggards.

Of the 30 shares in the Sensex, 15 closed in the green.

Sectorally, BSE realty index rose the most with 1.55 per cent gains. It was followed by consumer discretionary goods, bank and FMCG indices.

In the broader market, smallcap and midcap indices outperformed the benchmark. Largecap index rose 0.35 per cent.

“Indian bourses continued its gaining streak tracking optimism from global peers, which is despite the rising inflation concerns. The global market is eagerly awaiting the two-day Fed policy meeting’s decision to see if the central bank would signal any change in policy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

He further said that domestic retail inflation jumped to 6.3 per cent in May breaching the RBI’s comfort zone on account of higher food and energy prices, which is expected to ease due to the opening of the economy.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red.

Equities in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.32 per cent higher at USD 73.09 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee slipped 2 paise to close at 73.31 against the US dollar.