Sensex, Nifty Gain For 5th Straight Session, Post New Highs

(RTTNews) - As Indian shares turned in another fine performance, the benchmark indices Sensex and the Nifty continued to climb higher and posted fresh intraday and closing highs on Wednesday.

Sustained foreign fund inflows and rising expectations the Federal Reserve is close to end its interest rate hiking cycle contributed to the positive mood in the market.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 302.30 points or 0.45% at 67,097.44 after hitting a new high at 67,171.38.

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty50, which climbed to 19,815.70, settled with a gain of 83.90 points or 0.42% at 19,833.15.

NTPC surged nearly 3%. Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Motors, BPCL, Power Grid Corporation, Relianve Industries and ITC gained 1 to 2.3%.

PSU bank stocks posted impressive gains. Sector heavyweight State Bank of India gained about 1.5%. Bank of Maharashtra rallied 5.4% after reporting a stong 95.2% jump in net profit in the first quarter.

Punjab National Bank climbed 4.3%. Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, IOB, UCO Bank and Bank of Baroda gained 1 to 3%.

Private sector bank IndusInd Bank moved up more than 2%, after reporting a 32.5% surge in standalone net profit for the quarter ended June 2023.

L&T Technology Services shares gained 1.8%. The company reported a 13% year-on-year increase in net profit at Rs 311.1 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year.

ICICI Prudential Life ended lower by 2.7%, weighed down by a 4% drop in annualised premium equivalent to Rs 1,461 crore for the quarter ended June 2023.

Tata Tele (Maharashtra), Finolex Cables, TV 18 Broadcast and Tejas Networks climbed 7.5 to 10%.

RBL Bank, Jubilant Pharma, Bharat Forge, Sundaram Fasteners and MRPL ended notably lower.

The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 1,998 stocks closed higher, and 1,413 stocks posted losses, while 126 stocks settled flat.