Nifty at fresh record level

Positive Global Cues

♦ During the session, Sensex jumped 304.06 pts or 0.45% to all-time intra-day high of 67,771.05

♦ During the day, Nifty gained 97.65 pts or 0.48% to lifetime intra-day peak of 20,167.65

♦ FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs1,631.63 cr

♦ Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in positive territory

♦ European equities were trading mostly in the green

Mumbai: The NSE benchmark Nifty advanced over 33 points to close at a fresh lifetime high of 20,103 while Sensex ticked higher for the tenth straight session on Thursday, helped by fag-end buying in oil & gas, metal and commodity stocks amid a largely firm trend in global equities. After swinging between gains and losses throughout the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 52.01 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 67,519. During the session, it jumped 304.06 points or 0.45 per cent to hit its all-time intra-day high of 67,771.05. In the past 10 sessions, the BSE index has jumped 2,687.59 points or 4.14 per cent. The Nifty advanced 33.10 points or 0.16 per cent to end at its all-time closing high of 20,103.10. During the day, it gained 97.65 points or 0.48 per cent to reach its lifetime intra-day peak of 20,167.65.

“While the north-bound journey continued, the uptick lacked the firepower as seen in recent sessions as valuations are becoming expensive and investors are taking a cautious route. Rising global crude oil prices are also making investors jittery as this could stoke inflation and force central banks worldwide to maintain the rate hike regime. Despite early volatility and a range-bound trend thereafter, metals, oil & gas and realty shares sparkled, indicating that traders are willing to take selective bets,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head (research-retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

“Asian stocks rose on Thursday, as traders felt that a small upside surprise for US inflation was unlikely to push up interest rates. European markets were mixed on Thursday as investors in the region waited on a crucial decision from the European Central Bank on whether to raise euro zone interest rates for a 10th straight meeting,” Deepak Jasani, head (retail research), HDFC Securities.

“The market traded range-bound after touching a new high as higher-than-expected US inflation and anticipation of hawkish ECB policy meetings later today impacted investor sentiment. Concern over the valuation and inflation trajectory due to increasing oil prices may navigate the market into a consolidation phase in the near term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,631.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.