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Sensex Ends Above 29,000 After One Month, Capital Goods Stocks Surge

Sensex Ends Above 29,000 After One Month, Capital Goods Stocks Surge

The BSE benchmark Sensex ended above its important psychological level of 29,000 led by buying in capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG and energy stocks.

The 50-share Nifty also jumped above 8,800 supported by gains in blue-chip counters like Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Larsen & Toubro.

Investors will keenly watch consumer inflation numbers, due later in the day. Consumer prices likely rose to 5.5 per cent in March from a year earlier compared with February's 5.37 per cent, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

Corporate earnings, expected to start this week, will be the next medium-term trigger for the markets, analysts said.

"I think markets will trade in a range with a positive bias. Earnings and policy decisions will continue to be the key drivers. We are bullish, especially in infrastructure and power sectors," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries was among the top gainers on the Nifty the stock advanced 2 per cent to Rs 922 after the company on Friday announced that it has commissioned two petrochemical plants for making polyester plastic used in clothing, packaging, foods & beverages and plastic bottles.

RIL said it has commissioned a 1,150 kilo tons per annum Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant and a 650 KTA PET resin (Polyethylene Terephthalate) capacity at Dahej in Gujarat.

Larsen & Toubro also closed over 2 per cent higher at Rs 1,800 on the NSE after the Indian engineering major signed an agreement with French firm Areva for manufacturing of nuclear plant equipment. Areva is the supplier to the 9,900 MW Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharashtra, where the French company will set up six nuclear reactors.

BHEL, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid, Cipla, ITC, Tata Power and Hindustan Unilver also closed on a positive.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra, ACC, Tata Motors, GAIL India, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, IDFC, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank closed in the red.

On the sectoral front, consumer durable index was the top gainer, it closed 1.6 per cent higher on the BSE. Capital goods, healthcare, power, oil & gas, IT and FMCG stocks also witnessed buying. While, auto and realty stocks edged lower.

The overall breadth was positive as 1,703 stocks advanced while 1,124 stocks declined.

The Sensex closed 165 points higher at 29,044 and the Nifty advanced 54 points to settle at 8,834.

(With inputs from Reuters)