Sensex closes above 60K mark for second day

Sensex closed above the 60 K mark for the second consecutive session today despite negative global cues. The Sensex gained 37.87 ppts to 60,298 and Nifty gained 12 pts to 17,956. 15 of 30 Sensex stocks ended in the green today. Kotak Bank, L&T and Bharti Airtel were the top Sensex gainers, rising to 3.75 per cent.

Reddy's, Wipro, Infosys and M&M were the top Sensex losers, falling to 2.18 per cent. Mid-cap and small-cap indices on the BSE gained 104 points and 95 points.

Nifty was a double top compared to the previous session, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities. Large volumes and range move mean that a lot of churning seems to be happening between sectors and stocks. With no reversal signs on the horizon, the Nifty could rise to 18,115 over the next few sessions. A breach of 17,833 could mean faster downsides. Banking and capital goods stocks were the top sectoral gainers with their BSE indices zooming 305 points and 282 pts, respectively.

The market breadth was positive with 1,905 stocks ending higher against 1,489 stocks falling on the BSE. There were no changes to 146 shares.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said domestic equities experienced profit booking after the Fed minutes were released. Even though decision-makers were concerned about the impact of aggressive actions, they were in favor of raising rates further. IT and pharma were the laggards in the domestic market, responding to the fall in US stocks, while financials maintained their support. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 2,347, which was a net buyer in the capital markets. As per exchange data, 22 crore were reported on Wednesday.

After four months on Wednesday, the Sensex was above the 60 K mark. Sensex climbed 418 pts to 60,260 and Nifty gained 119 pts to 17,944. The top Sensex gainers were the Bajaj twins, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra.

Markets declined in London, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Frankfurt opened higher. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 per cent to 3,277 in Asia. In Tokyo, 54 and the Nikkei 225 fell 1 per cent to 28,942. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.8 per cent to 19,763. The Kospi in Seoul dropped 0.3 per cent to 2,508. 05 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was down 0.2 per cent at 7,112.