Nifty ends at record closing high ahead of Aug F&O expiry

Markets continued their winning streak for the fourth straight session with the Nifty ending at a fresh record closing high.

The 30-share Sensex ended 117 points higher at 26,560 and the 50-share Nifty gained 31 points to end at 7,936.

The broader markets ended in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 365 crore on Tuesday, 26 August 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Global Markets:

The euro is cracking under pressure on Wednesday as feverish speculation of further policy stimulus in the euro zone drove bond yields to all-time lows and lifted Asian stocks to peaks not seen in almost seven years.

In Europe, financial spread betters predicted a pause after recent gains with the FTSE trading flat with a positive bias while DAX and CAC are trading lower by 0.1% and 0.2% each.

Japanese shares trimmed most of the day's gains to end flat on Wednesday. Earlier, shares had picked up pace tracking gains in major US stock indices with the S&P 500 closing above 2,000 for the first time.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 0.1% at 15,534.82. Chinese shares ended flat with positive bias while Hang Seng ended down 0.7% on profit taking at higher levels while weak corporate earnings also dampened sentiment. Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.4%.

Back home, the rupee weakened against the US dollar and is trading lower at Rs 60.4 compared to the previous close of Rs 60.43. Dollar index, a basket of currencies traded against the greenback, hit 13-month high.

Sectors & Stocks:

On the sectoral front, BSE Oil and Gas index led the rally followed by Auto, IT, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Teck indices up between 0.5-1%. Bankex ended up 0.5%.

However, Power, Realty and Metal indices lost sheen on the BSE down between 0.2-1.3%.

The auto sector ended firm with Tata Motors up 2% after the auto maker said it would challenge the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order that imposed huge

penalty on auto companies.

Following the tandem, Bajaj Auto surged 1.4% and Hero Motocorp added nearly 1.6%.

Oil and Gas major ONGC surged 2.5% on talk that the subsidy burden would be shared between the government and upstream oil companies. GAIL added 0.55 and RIL ended marginally in green.

In the financial segment, ICICI Bank led the pack up 2%. Following the tandem, SBI, Axis Bank, and HDFC gained between 0.1-0.7% on the news of reduction in interest rates on big-ticket home loans.

The IT pack witnessed buying and ended in the positive territory on news of encouraging US economic data. Wipro and TCS climbed between 0.5-1.1%. However, Infosys ended marginally in green.

Tata Power, HUL, Dr Reddy’s lab and Hindalco were some of the notable names in green up between 0.5-1.3%.

On the flip side, select metal shares ended lower after the apex court's verdict on coal block allocations.

Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel ended down between 0.4-1.6%.

Capital goods shares witnessed selling pressure with BHEL down 1.3%.

NTPC, M&M and HDFC Bank were some of the notable counters that ended in red among others down between 0.6-1.5% each.

DLF plunged 4% to end at Rs 183 on the NSE on media reports that the Supreme Court has directed the company to pay the penalty of Rs 630 crore within 3 months.

It may be recalled that the CCI had recently slapped a penalty of Rs 630 crore on the company for abusing its dominant position in Gurgaon.

Among other shares, UCO Bank tanked 8% to end at Rs 90 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after PTI reported that the government has ordered limited forensic audit into some non-performing accounts of state-owned bank to find out any irregularities in sanction of loans.

Shares in the companies engaged in broadcasting and cable TV business like TV Today Network and New Delhi Television (NDTV) rallied up to 20% on back of heavy volumes on the bourses.

Venus Remedies surged 15% to end at Rs 296 on the BSE, after the pharmaceutical company has entered into an agreement with Israel-based generic drug maker Teva for selling an anti-cancer drug in Canada.

The market breadth ended strong on the BSE with 1,604 shares advancing and 1,384 shares declining.