Sensex breaches 78,000 level for 1st time, Nifty at record high as private bank shares shine
Mumbai, Jun 25: Benchmark Sensex breached the historic 78,000 level for the first time while Nifty settled at a new record high on Tuesday on buying in blue-chip bank stocks and Reliance Industries.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 712.44 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at a new closing peak of 78,053.52. During the day, the benchmark soared 823.63 points or 1 per cent to hit a fresh lifetime high of 78,164.71.
The Sensex breached the 77,000 mark for the first time on June 10.
The Nifty went up by 183.45 points or 0.78 per cent to settle at a fresh record high of 23,721.30. During the day, it climbed 216.3 points or 0.91 per cent to hit an intra-day lifetime high of 23,754.15.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the biggest gainers.
Power Grid, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Nestle, Maruti and JSW Steel were among the laggards.
"A rally in the banking stocks pushed Nifty to hit another record - 34th time this year though a host of other sectors ended in the negative," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.26 per cent while the smallcap index dipped 0.03 per cent.
"A positive news from the market perspective is the current account turning surplus in Q4 FY24. This will take away the pressure on the rupee and pave the way for FII inflows when clarity emerges on the Fed rate cuts," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
India recorded a current account surplus of USD 5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of GDP in the March quarter, the Reserve Bank of India said on Monday.
This is the first time in ten quarters that the crucial metric of the country's external strength has turned into surplus mode.
Among indices, bankex jumped 1.87 per cent, financial services climbed 1.45 per cent, IT by 0.53 per cent, capital goods by 0.28 per cent and teck by 0.43 per cent.
Realty declined 1.82 per cent. Power (1.05 per cent), utilities (0.95 per cent), metal (0.84 per cent) and telecommunication (0.28 per cent) also dropped.
"The markets edged higher signaling a resumption of the uptrend after a brief pause. Nifty traded within a range during the first half, but selective buying in heavyweight stocks, particularly from the banking sector, spurred a sharp surge," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
“We believe the current buoyancy in banking, coupled with notable strength in IT, will dictate the trend, while other sectors may contribute on a rotational basis,” Mishra added.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled higher while Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory. US markets ended on a mixed note on Monday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.44 per cent to USD 85.63 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 653.97 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
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Ahmedabad awaits runs from Abhishek's bat as India look to improve spin play
Ahmedabad (PTI): A peerless India will be hoping that Abhishek Sharma returns to his destructive ways and the other batters up their game against spin when the side takes the field for its final T20 World Cup league fixture against the Netherlands here on Wednesday.
Having established himself as one of the most dangerous batters in the game over the last 18 months, Abhishek is yet to go ballistic in the ICC event at home thus far.
After a nought in the opener, a stomach infection forced him out of the game against Namibia. He returned for the high stakes Pakistan contest but failed to get a run for the second time in as many matches.
But with Ishan Kishan showing imperious form at the other end, the lack of runs from Abhishek's bat have not impacted the team's cause.
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To be fair to the 25-year-old, his high-risk play has resulted in multiple wins for India and perhaps it is only a matter of time before he makes the best of bowlers look ordinary again.
However, four ducks in his last six innings do suggest that he may need to review his plans in the powerplay.
Considering his intimidating credentials, it is clear that teams have spent extra time in preparation to tackle the India opener.
By his own admission, Abhishek doesn't have the wide range of shots possessed by others in the line-up and he relies on the use of crease and his free flowing bat swing to scare the daylights out of the opposition.
He likes to target the deep cover boundary in powerplay and starting with the USA game, teams have been smart to deploy a fielder in that region.
Pakistan also had set a similar field for him on Sunday that also included a deep mid-wicket, mindful that he doesn't attempt shots behind the wicket often.
With India already through to the next stage of the tournament, the Netherlands game presents an ideal opportunity for him to get back among the runs.
India managed to make short work of Pakistan, thanks to a sublime effort from Kishan and the bowlers. However, for the second game in a row, the batters did not show the conviction displayed by Kishan.
After Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus was able to trouble the Indian batters with his round arm and behind the stumps variations, another unorthodox spinner, Usman Tariq, was able to keep them quiet in the Pakistan clash.
Even Saim Ayub was effective against the Indians.
With due respect to the Netherlands attack, their quality of spinners are not in the same league even though Aryan Dutt and Roelof van der Merwe have been around for a while.
On the bowling front, India have the option to rest a few bowlers before the Super 8s and that includes pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
After picking Kuldeep Yadav over Arshdeep Singh as the extra spin option in Colombo, the team management is expected to go back to the two specialist pacers combination.
If Bumrah is rested, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep are expected to start.
The two likely spinners will be Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel.
The Netherlands would need drastic improvement in their batting and bowling to compete with the defending champions. They lost heavily to USA in their previous game after a convincing win over Namibia.
Ahmedabad has produced the highest total of the games played in India thus far -- 213/4 that South Africa scored in their opener against Canada -- but in the last two games, teams batting first have not managed to cross the 200-run mark.
Even with the Indian involvement, it would be a challenge to pack the world's largest cricket stadium on a pleasant Wednesday evening.
Teams (from):
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India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar.
