Mumbai: The BSE Sensex and Nifty hit new highs on Monday but witnesses selling in late trade as Supreme Court’s ruling on coal block allocations hit investor sentiment.
While the NSE index closed in red, the BSE barometer closed with a marginal 17-point gain at a new peak on closing basis.
The 30-share Sensex, which had rallied by over 105 points in the past two sessions, climbed to an intra-day high of 26,630.74, surpassing its earlier record of 26,530.67 reached on August 19. However, across-the-board selling towards the close, trimmed most of day’s gains and it closed 17.47 points, or 0.07%, higher at 26,437.02 – crossing its previous closing record of 26,420.67 recorded on August 19.
The 50-share Nifty after opening on a strong footing, climbed to hit an all-time high of 7,968.25, surpassing earlier record high of 7,929.05 reached on August 22. Late selling wiped off its initial gains completely and it ended 6.90 points, or 0.09%, down at 7,906.30.
“Market sentiment was strong till mid-session, however, post the Supreme Court’s decision, declaring coal block allocation from1993 to 2010 illegal, triggered strong selling in select stocks like Hindalco and JSPL. Other sectors, including power and some mid-caps also followed suit,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
Prominent losers in the Sensex include Hindalco that plunged 9.56%, Sesa Sterlite 3.89%, Tata Steel 4.79%, Tata Power 3.42%, ICICI Bank 1.52%, GAIL 1.18%, NTPC 0.28%, RIL 0.17%, SBI 0.57% and Tata Motors 0.63%.
Sectorwise, BSE Metal index suffered the most by losing 4.34%, followed by Realty 2.01% and Power Index 1.24%. Stocks of Maruti Suzuki ended 1.71% after reports said Credit Suisse raised its target price.