Key Indian equity indices -- the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- extended gains for the fourth consecutive session and closed at new highs on Tuesday, cheering the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) win in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.Sentiments were further given a boost by soaring automobile stocks, alongwith a progress in US tax cut and a strengthened rupee, said market observers."With BJP getting a majority in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, equity indices closed near all time high," Anita Gandhi, Whole Time Director, Arihant Capital Markets, told IANS."Auto, cement and metal sectors showed great strength in anticipation that next focus of the government will be rural India," she added.On a closing basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE scaled a new high of 33,836.74 points -- up 235.06 points or 0.70 per cent from its previous close -- surpassing its previous closing high of 33,685.56 points recorded on November 3.The BSE market breadth remained bullish with 1,908 advancing stocks as compared to 778 declines.The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange edged higher by 74.45 points or 0.72 per cent to a new closing high 10,463.20 points, crossing its previous closing high of 10,452.50 points scaled on November 3.
"Carrying on from the previous session, markets continued to move higher to close with healthy gains on Tuesday," Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS."The main indices have now gained for the fourth straight day. Broad market indices like the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained more, thereby outperforming the main indices," he added.In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index was up by 1.47 per cent and the small-cap index by 1.51 per cent.Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Euphoria from election verdict and progress in US tax cut fuelled the market to rally near the all time high.""Auto stocks drove the market from the forefront while small and mid-cap outperformed on expectation of improvement in rural demand on the back of continued government reforms. Strengthening rupee and positive global cues will continue to attract domestic liquidity," he added.On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 21 paise to close at 64.03 against the US dollar from its previous close at 64.24.
Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 407.83 crore while domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 357.40 crore.All the sub-indices of the BSE ended in the positive territory barring the IT and Teck (technology, media and entertainment) indices.The BSE S&P auto index augmented by 884.27 points, followed by consumer durables index by 402.42 points and metal index by 210.36 points.On the other hand, the S&P BSE IT index fell by 49.63 points and Teck index by mere 3.87 points.Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Maruti Suzuki, up 5.33 per cent at Rs 9,804.50; Hero MotoCorp, up 4.70 per cent at Rs 3,696.80; Tata Motors, up 3.39 per cent at Rs 419.25; Bajaj Auto, up 2.87 per cent at Rs 3,319.90; and Tata Motors (DVR), up 2.81 per cent at Rs 232.50.Major Sensex losers were: Wipro, down 1.07 per cent at Rs 292.15; Infosys, down 1.04 per cent at Rs 1,004.80; IndusInd Bank, down 0.51 per cent at Rs 1,672.25; HDFC, down 0.49 per cent at Rs 1,709.70; and Kotak Bank, down 0.35 per cent at Rs 1,020.