Nifty ends above 8,000-mark for 1st time; Sensex at new peak

Stocks markets continued their winning streak for the seventh straight session with Nifty Monday breaching the 8,000-mark for the first time and the Sensex closing at new life-time high of 26,867.55 boosted by positive economic growth data for the April-June quarter.

Mumbai: Spurred by robust economic growth, the BSE Sensex Monday surged to historic peak of 26,900.30 points and Nifty crossed 8,000 level for the first time on aggressive buying particularly in auto, metal and banking counters.

The 30-share Sensex, however, settled at 26,867.55 -- new closing high -- with gains of 229.44 points or 0.86 percent over the previous close. In the last five trading sessions, the Sensex has been scaling new closing peaks.

The 50-share Nifty crossed the 8,000 level for the first time and closed at 8,027.70, a net gain of 73.35 points or 0.92 percent. The Nifty touched all time high of 8,035.00 in intra day trade.

It took 78 trading sessions from May 12 to reach the 8,000-mark from 7,000 points.

Sentiments turned bullish as foreign capital inflows picked up after economic growth improved to two-and-a-half year high of 5.7 percent in the April-June quarter, brokers said. Growth numbers were released on last Friday.

The market also got a boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi today promised to remove roadblocks to foreign investment and said that economy was out of difficult situation and more reforms were in the offing.

"Positive economic data and continued optimism in the equity segment gave renewed boost to the current rally. Nifty today saw a breakout above 7970 level and also closed above 8000 level, which holds psychological importance," Bonanza Portfolio Senior Research Analyst Nidhi Saraswat said.

HeroMoto Corp was the biggest Sensex gainer as it jumped 5.79 percent. Maruti Suzuki climbed 4.71 percent.

Larsen and Toubro, Hindalco, ONGC, GAIL, Reliance Industries, Cipla, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Infosys and NTPC posted gains in the range of 1 percent to 3.62 percent.

"The stellar run for Indian equity markets continued on the back of better than expected GDP data and an increased conviction amongst the investing community on equities as an asset class for the next three to five years," Devang Mehta, SVP & Head Equity Advisory & Retail Sales, Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd, said.

Strong sales number in August posted by some auto makers, including Maruti Suzuki, was another positive factor for the markets, brokers said, adding that operators preferred to go long on the first day of September series.

Among sectoral indices, BSE Metal sector index rose (2.79 percent), followed by Capital Goods (2.75 percent), Realty (2.72 percent) and Power (2.60 percent).

The BSE Bankex rose by 1.79 percent, Consumer Durables 1.63 percent, Oil & Gas 1.61 by percent and Auto by 1.32 percent.

A near term hope of zero losses on sale of diesel has given a much needed boost to the oil marketing & upstream companies, Mehta said.

"Both FIIs and DIIs were the net buyers for the month of August. Local equities has over looked the ongoing crises in Ukraine and Gaza and focused on the recent positive sentiments," Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said.

Among 30 Sensex shares, 22 scrips ended higher, while eight others finished lower. Sunpharma fell by 1.46 percent, ITC by 1.37 percent and HDFC by 1.19 percent.

Meanwhile, the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory production, eased to 52.4 in August from 53 in July, though remaining "solid" as reading above 50 indicates growth while a lower reading means contraction.

The total market breadth turned positive as 1,923 stocks closed higher, 1,010 finished lower while 137 ruled steady.

"Persistent efforts by the Modi government to revive manufacturing, create jobs and hack through the thicket of regulatory labyrinth to rev-up the engine of growth is responsible for the buoyancy in Indian markets," Ajay Bodke, Head - Investment Strategy & Advisory at Prabhudas Lilladher said.