Sensex, Nifty retreat from record highs; bank stocks rally

Key benchmark indices Sensex and

Nifty were trading higher by up to 1 per cent in late morning

trade, pulling back from their life-time highs, as select

banking, IT, auto and pharma stocks gained.

The government yesterday announced various measures to

spur economy, including PSU banks' Rs 2.11 lakh crore

capitalisation plan and Rs 6.92 lakh crore massive road

building programme, which boosted the market sentiment.

Firmness in Asian stocks also supported gains on the

bourses.

While, continued selling were seen in telecom, consumer

durables, metal and realty stocks.

The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 32,995.28 and

soared to its intra-day life time high of 33,117.33 as banking

stocks rallied.

The index retreated to a low of 32,804.60 in late morning

due to profit booking but strong gains in SBI, ICICI, L&T and

a recovery in IT major Infosys helped it trade higher by 324

points 0.99 per cent at 32,931.55 at 1140hrs.

While, the NSE 50-share Nifty was also trading up by

61.15 or 0.60 per cent to 10,268.85.

However, side counters were sluggish the S&P BSE

Mid-Cap index was up 0.17 pct and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index

up 0.05 pct. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.

Major gainers were, SBIN by 19.65 pct, ICICI Bank 8.74

pct, Larsen 5.14 pct, AxiS Bank 2.49 pct, Infosys 1.27 pct and

Powergrid 1.05 per cent.

However, Kotak Bank fell 3.25 pct, HDFC Bank 3.22 pct,

HDFC 2.77 pct, BhartiAirtel 1.00 pct and Lupin 0.95 pct.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a

net Rs 1306.76 crore yesterday, as per provisional data

released by the stock exchanges.

Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth a

net Rs 592.28 crore, as per provisional data.

Globally, Asian stocks rose following the overnight

gains on Wall Street as upbeat corporate earnings results and

optimism about global economic growth boosted investor

sentiment.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)