Sensex, Nifty fall in early trade after touching all-time highs

Benchmark equity indices fall on Thursday after Sensex and Nifty touching their all-time high levels, with investors opting for value-buying in bellwether stocks ahead of quarterly result announcements amid mixed global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 497.06 points or 0.67 per cent to hit all-time high of 74,373.88. The NSE Nifty climbed 144.70 points or 0.64 per cent to hit its fresh peak of 22,579.35.

Both the indices had ended lower in the previous two sessions.

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Sensex recorded its previous peak on April 1 when it touched the intra-day high of 74,254.62. It had closed the session at 74,014. On the same day, Nifty also hit its peak closing level of 22,462. The 50-share benchmark had touched the intra-day high of 22,529.95.

Among the Sensex constituents, 28 stocks were trading in green with HDFC Bank, NTPC, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, and Axis Bank being the major gainers.

IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank were the only two defiants.

On the 50-share barometer NSE Nifty, as many as 46 shares were in the positive zone.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, global and domestic cues indicate that the market is likely to consolidate in the coming days and start responding to Q4 results as they start coming. So, Q4 results will be the next major trigger for the market from a sectoral and stock-specific perspective.

“Market expects good results from autos, capital goods, telecom and select pharmaceuticals. Financials, too, will report good results despite some NIM compression and, therefore, are likely to be favoured by investors,” he said.

Asian markets were not trading. European markets ended Wednesday’s session in green. The US markets closed with mixed note. S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained while Dow closed with a marginal loss.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,213.56 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.37 per cent to $88.68 a barrel.

On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 27.09 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 73,876.82. The NSE Nifty declined 18.65 points or 0.08 per cent to 22,434.65.