FINAL TRADE: Buying in heavyweights ITC, ICICI Bank helps Sensex end 418 pts higher; Nifty settles at 18,716

Stock market today: Buying in heavyweights such as RIL, ITC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and Axis Bank helped benchmark indices settle with over 0.6 per cent gains on Tuesday. At close, the S&P BSE Sensex stood at 63,143.16, up 418 points, or 0.67 per cent while the NSE's Nifty ended at 18,716.15, up 115 points, or 0.62 per cent. On the Sensex pack, Asian Paints (up 2 per cent) emerged as the biggest gainer. Titan Co and ITC - both up 2 per cent were next on the list. On the contrary, Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1 per cent) ended as the biggest loser. 

"Nifty opened on a strong note after taking cues from strong global markets. The index tried to pick up momentum as the day progressed but was seen struggling in a consolidated move for the next couple of hours. The second half of the trading session brought fresh momentum to the Nifty, which was seen crossing 18,700 with relative ease and closing near the high point of the day. The immediate hurdle is seen at 18,770 levels, which, once sustained, can push the index towards 19,000 levels. Comfortable writing was seen in 18,700 and 18,600 strike put options, suggesting the dips are unlikely to be steep and any fall towards 18,600 can see fresh buying in the Nifty index," said Gaurav Bissa, VP, InCred Equities.

"Banknifty continued its struggle around 44,150 levels. The index was trading in a range throughout the trading session, with some traction seen towards the end of the day. The index has managed to sustain above its 21ema on daily charts, which is expected to continue lending support, and a close above 44,300 can push it towards 45000 levels," Bissa added. 

The volatility index, India VIX, ended at 11.11 levels, down over 1 per cent. India VIX is an indicator of the expected market volatility in the coming sessions. 

BUZZING STOCKS

MRF was the stock of the day today as the scrip created history by surpassing the Rs 1,00,000 mark. It is the first Indian company whose stock price increased to a six-digit figure. The stock hit a record high of Rs 100,300 on the BSE. It finally ended at Rs 99,950.65, up over 1 per cent. Further, ITC scaled fresh 52-week high today. Inox Wind Energy hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,150 on the BSE on the announcement of the merger with its parent company.

SECTOR WATCH

All the sectoral indices ended in the green. Realty and consumer durable stocks gained the most. The S&P Realty index rallied 3 per cent and the S&P BSE Consumer Durables added 1.80 per cent. 

BROADER MARKET INDICES

The S&P BSE MidCap index added over 1 per cent to 27,989.54 points whereas the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.82 per cent higher at 31,876.70 levels.