Sensex rises over 109 points, to end at a fresh 13-month high

Market rally continued for the third straight session today, with Sensex surging over 109 points to end at a fresh 13-month high of 28,452.17 on sustained fund inflows despite a caution ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data later in the day.

On monthly basis, in August both the key indices—

Sensex and Nifty—recorded their sixth straight month of gains by rising 401.31 points, or 1.43 per cent, and 147.70 points, or 1.70 per cent, respectively. This is also the longest run of monthly advances since November 2014. In the current fiscal (2016-17), the Sensex has so far gained 3,110.31 points, or 12.27 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 390.63 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

The broader NSE Nifty after recapturing the 8,800-mark after 16 months touched a high of 8,819.20 today but profit-taking dragged it down to close at 8,786.20, still up 41.85 points or 0.48 per cent. Moreover, encouraging earnings by some more companies and a mixed trend in global markets too buoyed trading sentiment here.

Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, said, “Sensex and Nifty traded higher and hit their highest level in over 13 months and 16 months in intra-day trade, respectively. Domestic investor sentiment remained buoyed, despite mixed global cues and a sharp up-move in the dollar index.”

The benchmark BSE Sensex after shuttling between 28,532.25 and 28,363.10, finally ended 109.16 points, or 0.39 per cent, higher at 28,452.17 on sustained foreign fund inflows and increased buying by domestic financial institutions ahead of the GDP data for the June quarter, to be released later in the day. This is the highest closing since July 22, 2015. The index had rallied 560.76 points in the previous two sessions.