Quarterly, auto results lift equities, Nifty50 crosses 10,100-mark

Mumbai, Aug 1 (IANS) The key Indian equity indices, which traded on a flat note for most part of the session due to profit booking, closed at fresh highs on Tuesday on the back of healthy quarterly results from corporates as well as July automobile results.

Besides, positive global cues, along with hopes of a rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy review of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), kept investors' sentiments buoyed.

The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed above the psychologically important 10,100-mark for the first time.

The NSE Nifty rose by 37.55 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at a new high of 10,114.65 points, after touching a fresh intra-day high of 10,128.60 points.

Similaly, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at a fresh high of 32,575.17 points -- up 60.23 points, or 0.19 per cent, from its previous close of 32,514.94 points.

The Sensex scaled a high of 32,632.02 points and a low of 32,462.25 points during intra-day trade.

However, the BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,656 declines and 1,030 advances.

In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index was up 0.45 per cent, whereas the small-cap index was down 0.12 per cent.

"Benchmark indices ended with trade at record closing highs for the second straight session, with the Nifty closing above 10,100 for the first time ever on strong auto sales numbers and hopes that RBI will cut interest rates tomorrow (Wednesday)," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

"Marico, FMCG major, dropped as much as 5.4 per cent after reporting first quarter earnings."

On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 11 paise to 64.07-08 to a US dollar from its previous close at 64.18-19.

In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 945.83 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 1,390.65 crore.

"Markets rallied further on Tuesday to close at new life highs. The gains came on the back of positive global cues. Private survey showing Indian manufacturing activity contracting in July kept gains of indices under check," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

On the macro front, data released during market hours showed that India's manufacturing sector's output declined last month due to the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and weak demand.

The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which is a composite indicator of manufacturing performance, stood at 47.9 in July from the index reading of 50.9 in June 2017.

"With manufacturing activity contracting and retail inflation slowing, the RBI will be hard pressed to announce a rate cut of at least 25 basis points in the upcoming Monetary policy meeting," Desai added.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE automobile index surged by 384.56 points, the metal index by 126.84 points, and the oil and gas index by 51.54 points.

On the other hand, the S&P BSE consumer durables index declined by 123.81 points, the capital goods index by 66.66 points and the telecom index was a tad down by 5.35 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Hero MotoCorp, up 2.05 per cent at Rs 3,729.10; Maruti Suzuki, up 1.96 per cent at Rs 7,859.10; Wipro, up 1.82 per cent at Rs 294.25; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 1.77 per cent at Rs 1,426.85; and Dr. Reddy's Lab, up 1.73 per cent at Rs 2,426.75.

Major Sensex losers were: Lupin, down 1.36 per cent at Rs 1,018; ONGC, down 1.21 per cent at Rs 167.30; State Bank of India, down 1.20 per cent at Rs 308.80; Asian Paints, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 1,148.10; and Kotak Bank, down 0.67 per cent at Rs 1,012.90.