BSE Sensex, Nifty Hit New Milestones

BSE Sensex and Nifty surged today to fresh record highs amid optimism over recovery in the Indian economy after the first quarter growth surged to nine-quarter high.

Sensex and Nifty clocked fresh record highs of 27,082.85 and 8,101.95 today.

Foreign investors, key drivers of the market rally this year, have bought shares worth $13 billion, or nearly Rs 78,000 crore, in 2014 so far despite some geopolitical tensions, on continued optimism about an improving economy and expectations that the Narendra Modi government will usher in significant reforms. On Monday, foreign investors bought Indian equities worth Rs 554 crore.

Gaurang Shah, assistant vice president at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said good macro data like GDP numbers, foreign inflows and fall in oil prices are driving Indian markets. But he sees some profit-taking at 8,100 levels for Nifty.

Cipla surged over 5 per cent to be the biggest Nifty gainer. Cipla on Monday launched its generic drug used for treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Germany and Sweden. While the drug - Salmeterol/Fluticasone MDI - will be sold under the Serroflo brand in Germany, it will be marketed as Salmeterol/Fluticasone Cipla in Sweden, Cipla said in a statement. The combined market size of the drug is estimated around $100 million.

Cement stocks were also among gainers after core sector data for July indicated that cement production grew 16.4 per cent during the month. UltraTech, ACC, Grasim Industries and Ambuja Cement rose between 2.5-4 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp rose 2.5 per cent after August sales jumped 21 per cent. Among other major Nifty gainers, Bharti Airtel, DLF, Lupin and Sun Pharma were up between 2-4 per cent.

Some selling pressure was seen in metal stocks with JSPL and Sesa Sterlite down nearly 2 per cent each.

At 2:12 p.m., Sensex was up 191 points to 27,059 while Nifty rose 67 points to 8,094.