Sensex Rises Over 100 Points, Settles At All-Time Closing High

The Sensex rose over 100 points to settle at all-time closing high of 31,369 led by gains in heavyweight stocks like ITC, State Bank of India, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and HDFC Bank. The broader Nifty also ended around its all-time high levels of 9,675. For most part of the day, the Sensex and Nifty traded on a positive note and in intraday deals, the Sensex surged as much as 215 points and the Nifty hit its psychologically important level of 9,700 but due to high resistance around 9,700 levels, the Nifty came off intraday highs, said analysts.

The Sensex ended 124 points higher at 31,369 and Nifty jumped 37 points to close at 9,674.55.

PSU and private sector banking shares saw good action in today's session as the weekly derivative contracts of the Bank Nifty expired today. The PSU Banking sub-index on the National Stock Exchange rose as much as 3 per cent before closing 2.35 per cent higher on the NSE. Bank Nifty also jumped 0.48 per cent to settle at 23,467. Gains in the banking shares were led by Punjab National Bank which rose over 5 per cent to close at 143.50 after Nomura upgraded its shares to 'buy' for a target price of Rs 180. Canara Bank, State Bank of India, IDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Federal Bank were also among the gainers.

Real estate shares also saw good buying interest in today's session, the BSE realty index rose 1.6 per cent. FMCG, auto, healthcare and metal shares also witnessed buying interest in today's session.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 29 ended higher while 22 closed lower. Bharti Infratel was the top Nifty gainer, up 3 per cent to settle at Rs 415. IndusInd Bank, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Ambuja Cements, Maruti Suzuki and ACC were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, Indian Oil, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank were among the losers.

The broader markets were in-line with the benchmark indices with BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rising 0.3 per cent each.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,540 shares ended higher while 1,168 closed lower on the BSE.