After scaling, new highs on Tuesday, supported by positive news flow Indian benchmark indices continued their upward march and closed at yet another new high. However, profit-booking was the underlying theme during the trading resulting in declines in small and midcap shares. Even, the number of shares advancing were lower than that declined.
At the close, BSE Sensex gained 546 points to close at 54,369. It is the first time in history the index has closed above the 54,000 level. The Nifty gained 128 points to close at 16,258, a new peak. HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Reliance Industries and SBI were the largest gainers while Infosys, Titan and Bharti Airtel recorded the biggest decline in the large-caps.
However, all other indicators pointed at profit booking at the highest levels. In the 30-share Senex, 17 shares declined while in the 50-share Nifty, 31 shares declined, indicating profit-booking even in the large caps. Smallcap Index on the NSE lost 1.01% while Midcap lost 1.19%. Of the total shares traded on BSE 1137 advanced and 2119 declined, suggesting more sellers than buyers in the market. In the SmallCap segment, of the 100 shares in the index 77 declined during the trade, while in the Midcap100 index 76 closed with losses during the day.
Of the dozen sectoral indices on the NSE, seven closed with losses. Reality, media and auto witnessed the biggest declines. Banking and Financial services recorded the biggest gains for the day. For the third day in a row, metal stocks continued to remain under selling pressure. Gaining the most in the bounce back from the April lows, real estate shares were also under heavy pressure.
SBI, India’s largest bank declared the highest ever quarterly profit of Rs6,504 crore for the bank resulting in a huge buying rally in the market. The SBI stock closed with gains of 2.37% at Rs457.05. The bank also clocked a market cap of over Rs4 lakh crore. On the back of poor results and a stable ARPU, shares of Bharti Airtel declined by 1.03%
