Healthy macros attract equity foreign funds; Sensex mounts 58K-mark

Mumbai, Sep 3 : Healthy macro-data, along with hopes of faster economic recovery continued to buoy India's key stock market indices to scale new highs on Friday with the S&P BSE Sensex rising above the 58,000-point landmark.

According to market observers, healthy domestic trends attracted foreign capital which in turn lifted the equity indices.

Initially, the two indices had a gap up opening, however, they faced a mild correction phase in the early part of the session before bouncing back.

Besides, investors' sentiments improved on the back of a rise in August Services PMI.

Globally, Asian markets were mixed on softer Chinese data, while European stocks slipped ahead of US employment data that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy outlook, while fresh concerns about slowing Chinese growth (services) dented the mood.

Sector wise, oil and gas, metals, consumer durables and realty indices rose the most while telecom and banks declined.

Consequently, Sensex touched a record high of 58,194.79 points during the day.

It closed at 58,129.95, higher by 277.41 points, or 0.48 per cent, from its previous close of 57,852.54. It had opened at 57,983.45 and touched an intra-day low of 57,764.07 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 17,323.60, higher by 89.45 points or 0.52 per cent from its previous close.

The rise in the domestic indices was led by a surge in the shares of index-heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

RIL shares on the BSE closed at Rs 2,388.25, higher by Rs 94.60 points, or 4.12 per cent, from its previous close. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 2,394.30 during the session.

RIL's market capitalisation at the end of the day's trade was at Rs 15.14 lakh crore.

"Nifty gained 3.7 per cent over the week, its second consecutive weekly gain and the largest in seven months," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

"The broader market however swings from negative to positive to even -- day after day as investors try to find a clue about the direction of the mid and smallcaps even as the largecaps are back in favour of institutions - both foreign and local. Nifty could take support from 17,153 while 17,480 could act as a resistance in the near term," he added.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: "Despite mixed global cues, equities continued to raise its bar, recording fresh highs as India continued reporting strong economic numbers. European stocks traded mixed ahead of US jobs data while concerns over economic slowdown in China fanned investor worries."

Siddhartha Khemka, Retail Research Head, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "Liquidity in the domestic market has been strong for the past couple of days with FIIs putting in over Rs 6,000 crore in last 4 sessions itself. Further, strong service PMI data and healthy GST collection numbers boosted market sentiments."