Sensex, Nifty Close At Record Highs Led By Gains In Auto, Banking Shares

Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and State Bank of India were among the top movers in the Sensex.

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for third session in a row and closed at record highs on Monday led by gains in Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and State Bank of India. The Sensex rose as much as 417 points to hit record high of 60,476.13 and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 18,000 for the first time to hit record high of 18,041.95.

The Sensex advanced 77 points to close at record high of 60,136 and Nifty 50 index rose 51 points to close at an all-time high of 17,946.

"Nifty Index crossing 18,000 levels marks the continuation of the bull phase in the Indian markets. There are strong positive sentiments on the domestic front, even though the global cues are pointing towards increasing risks. Central banks across the world are expected to unwind their balance sheet expansion sooner than later to counter increasing inflation. In addition, this earnings season in India is going to be extremely critical, given that price to equity of Nifty is above 27 times and earnings need to keep pace with the same. Overall, we are cautious at this point of time and waiting for a definite conclusion on the tussle between global cues and domestic developments," said Mohit Ralhan, managing partner & chief investment officer at TIW PE.

Buying was visible across the board as all the 15 sector gauges, barring the index of information technology shares, compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher. Nifty Auto index was the top sectoral gainer, up nearly 3 per cent. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Media, Metal and Realty sector gauges also rose between 1.3-2.6 per cent.