Mumbai: Benchmark equity index Sensex on Wednesday ticked higher to scale yet another lifetime closing peak of 77,337, while the broader Nifty retreated from the record high level amid a lack of immediate triggers. In a volatile trading session, the emergence of profit booking in consumer durables, capital goods and energy shares negated strong gains in banking and financial stocks. Rallying for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 36.45 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 77,337.59. During the day, it soared 550.49 points or 0.71 per cent to hit the fresh lifetime peak of 77,851.63. The NSE Nifty ended at 23,516, down 41.90 points or 0.18 per cent. Intra-day, it rose 106.1 points or 0.45 per cent to hit a new record of 23,664.

“Strong buying in banking stocks helped Sensex sail through in a highly volatile trading session, while Nifty ended weak as investors booked profit in auto, metals, oil & gas, telecom and realty shares after the recent upsurge. Ahead of the Budget, markets may see stock & sector-specific activities on hopes the government may increase the outlay for sectors to push growth,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd. “Despite this, the bulls showed resilience, pushing the market into uncharted territory, which too was short-lived as another bout of profit booking set in during the final hours,” added Osho Krishan, senior analyst (technical & derivatives), Angel One Ltd.

“Global stocks were mixed on Wednesday after US benchmarks rose to fresh records following the signs that the US economy may be slowing without falling into recession. Global stocks have broadly shrugged off political tensions in France.” said Deepak Jasani, head (retail research) at HDFC Securities.