Sensex rebounds nearly 100 pts to hit lifetime high

Mumbai, Sep 16: Equity benchmark index Sensex rebounded nearly 100 points to hit a lifetime closing high on Monday, while the broader Nifty ended just shy of its record peak, propelled by bargain hunting in energy, utility and banking stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 97.84 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at a new record peak of 82,988.78. During the day, it jumped 293.4 points or 0.35 per cent to hit a fresh lifetime intra-day high of 83,184.34.

The NSE Nifty rose 27.25 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 25,383.75, over 5 points lower than its previous record. During the day, the benchmark gained 89.2 points or 0.35 per cent to hit a new intra-day high of 25,445.70.

“The domestic market traded in a narrow range with a positive bias as the participants are keenly awaiting the Fed’s decision this week. The weakness in the US job market and benign inflation are pointing at a slew of rate cuts on the table.

“The inflow of foreign money and an expectation of stability in domestic growth may keep sentiment optimistic,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

NTPC was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.44 per cent, followed by JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Nestle, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Steel.

Bajaj Finance declined over 3 per cent. Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, Adani Port and Asian Paints were the other laggards.

“The Indian markets continued their bullish trend, with Nifty reaching a new record high, driven primarily by foreign institutional investor (FII) buying and a strong market breadth.