The stock market continued gaining momentum for the sixth consecutive day. However, the Nifty index failed to hold 25,100 amid profit booking at higher levels.
At close, the Sensex was up 142.87 points or 0.17% at 82,000.71, and the Nifty was up 33.20 points or 0.13% at 25,083.75. Notably, Sensex is now about 5% below its all-time high of 85,978, hit on September 27 last year.
The mid and small-cap segments underperformed. The BSE Midcap index slipped 0.12%, while the Smallcap index ended almost flat.
Among the sectors, Nifty Pharma and Healthcare indices rose by almost a per cent each. Auto, FMCG and PSU Bank indices ended lower.
Nifty Bank ended with a modest gain of 0.10% while the Financial Services index rose 0.32%.
On Nifty, the top gainers were Cipla up by 3.09%, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories up by 2.61%, and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.03%. On the other hand, the shares of Tata Consumer were down by 1.57%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.56%, and Eternal down by 1.55% ending as the top losers.
Around 143 stocks hit their 52-week high, while in contrast, 49 stocks touched 52-week lows.
Those on the highs were Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, CreditAccess Grameen Ltd, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd, India Cements Ltd, JM Financial Ltd, Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd, Marico Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Sai Life Sciences Ltd, and TVS Motor Company Ltd.
On the lows were Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd, Indogulf Cropsciences Ltd, Regaal Resources Ltd, Sharika Enterprises Ltd, and U. Y. Fincorp Ltd.
Another notable performance was by the insurance shares, which saw a spike after reports suggested that life and health insurance purchased by individuals may be exempt from the 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) that is currently levied.
HDB Financial Services surged by a percent as Motilal Oswal initiated coverage on a new non-bank with a ‘neutral’ outlook.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) fell 2% after Kotak Institutional Equities downgraded the stock to add.
It is to be noted that the foreign portfolio investors continue to sell Indian equities, as after offloading stocks worth Rs 47,667 crore in July, they pulled out Rs 25,375 crore from the cash segment in August so far.