Markets end at record closing highs

Benchmark share indices gained for the seventh straight session to end at record closing highs on Wednesday amid renewed buying interest in IT majors.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Nifty also touched fresh all-time high of 7,809.20 in intra-day trades.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained over 100 points and ended at 26147.33 while the CNX Nifty ended 27 points higher at 7,795.75.

Meanwhile, the broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices as the BSE Small-cap index slumped over 0.5% on account of profit taking while the BSE Mid-cap index ended flat.

The market breadth on the BSE was weak as 1648 scrips declined while 1319 advanced.

Global Markets

Asian markets were trading mixed with Japanese shares witnessing profit taking after gains in the previous sesssion.

The benchmark Nikkei ended down 0.1% at 15,328.56.

Among other majors in the region, Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while Hang Seng gained 0.7% and Straits Times was up 0.6%.

European shares were also trading rangebound in early trades as earnings from major corporates continued to weigh on market sentiment. The CAC, DAX and FTSE were up 0.1-0.4%.

Rupee

The Indian rupee was trading higher at Rs 60.13 compared to the previous close of 60.24 tracking gains in the domestic stock markets on the back of robust foreign fund inflows.

Meanwhile, dollar demand to meet crude oil imports is likely to cap further gains in the rupee.

Sectors and Buzzing Stocks

The BSE IT index the top sectoral gainer up over 2% followed by Consumer Durables, Bankex, Auto, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods, all up between 0.1-0.4 each%.

Among others, Healthcare, Power and Metal slipped between 0.1-0.3% each while Realty ended marginally lower.

Infosys was the top Sensex gainer as the scrip surged over 3% after the company entered into a multi-year agreement with German auto giant Daimler for the management of infrastructure services and data centres.

While TCS gained over 2%

on account of renewed buying interest.

TCS has become the first company entered into the Rs 5,00,000-crore market cap club fuelled by the surge in its share price after reported a strong earnings during the recently concluded quarter.

Following it peers, Wipro edged above 1%.

Among the banking pack, Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank surged between 1-2% while SBI gained nearly by 0.5%.

Axis bank dipped nearly 1% and HDFC bank edged nearly 0.5% lower.

ING Vysya Bank shed over 3% after the company's net profit dipped 18% to Rs 143 crore on 5% growth in total income to Rs 1627 crore in Q1 June 2014 over the corresponding period last year.

In case of auto shares, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto and M&M gained over 1% while Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors slipped nearly 1%.

Shares of metal companies ended lower as Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite sipped between 0.5%-1.5% each. Hindalco surged over 2%.

Among Oil & Gas Companies, ONGC and Gail slipped around 1% while Reliance ended flat.

Among other shares, Jet Airways closed over 3% higher after the country's No. 2 airline by market share said it will look at selling planes and restructuring its debts to end the losses for years.

Polaris Financial Technology slumped over 7% after the consolidated net profit fell 15.61% to Rs 38.32 crore on 7.04% decline in income from operations to Rs 600.03 crore in Q1 June 2014 over Q4 March 2014.

KPIT Technologies plunged over 11% after consolidated net profit dropped 17% to Rs 51 crore on 2% decline in revenue to Rs 690 crore in Q1 June 2014 over the corresponding period last year.

Financial Technologies surged over 9% extending its past two days rally, after the company on Monday announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell its 15% stake in MCX to Kotak Mahindra Bank for Rs 459 crore.

Ceat dipped nearly 7.5% extending its Tuesday’s fall, after reporting 21% year on year decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 52 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1), first time in past two years.

The tyre maker had profit of Rs 65 crore in the same quarter last year.