The Nifty rose on Monday to a third consecutive record high, while the Sensex surpassed 26,000 points, riding on gains in technology stocks ahead of Infosys results and hopes of a fiscally prudent budget.
Foreign investors continued to support shares, buying a net Rs 943 crore on Friday, a sixth straight session of purchases. Overseas investors have bought $10.54 billion worth of Indian shares so far this year, regulatory and exchange data showed.
Investors are hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will deliver a fiscally prudent budget that increases revenue from asset sales while controlling spending.
Still, some caution was also reflected as investors picked up defensive shares such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
"There is portfolio adjustment and people are taking positions ahead of the budget. Investors are looking at sectors, where greater emphasis would be given by the Modi government. We are bullish and expect more upside, but advise clients to be cautious and selective," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.
The Sensex ended 0.53 per cent higher at 26,100.08, a record closing high. Earlier in the day, it rose 0.62 per cent to an all-time high of 26,123.55.
The Nifty ended 0.46 per cent higher at 7,787.15 after rising as much as 0.52 per cent to hit a record high of 7,792, the third session in a row.
Infrastructure finance company IDFC rose 6.34 per cent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "underweight" and raised its target price to Rs 175 from Rs 115.
Healthcare stocks gained as investors tried to de-risk their portfolios by adding defensive stocks. Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.94 per cent, while Sun Pharmaceutical ended 1.93 per cent higher.
Among other blue-chips, energy stocks gained with Tata Power up 3.7 per cent and Bharat Heavy Electricals ending 0.74 per cent higher on hopes that the power sector would get better treatment in the budget.
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014
