Sensex scales 37,000 mountain

Mumbai: Sensex finished above the 37,000-mark for the first time, while the Nifty too breached the historic 11,200-level on Friday on widespread buying led by consumption and capital goods stocks.

The Sensex vaulted over 352 points  on Friday to wrap up a stellar week —during which it finished at fresh lifetime highs in each of the five trading sessions.

Barring the BSE IT index, all other sectoral indices ended in the green. ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 5.24 per cent, after it posted a 10 per cent increase in standalone net profit for the June quarter. ITC went past FMCG major HUL to become the country’s fourth most valued firm in terms of m-cap.

Better-than-expected quarterly earnings by select index heavyweights, easing of US-EU trade tensions and firm foreign capital inflows ensured that investor sentiment remains skewed towards equities, brokers said.

Opening on a firm footing, the 30-share Sensex hit a new intra-day peak of 37,368.62. It finally settled at 37,336.85, up 352.21 points, or 0.95 per cent — breaching its previous closing record of 36,984.64 reached on Thursday.

It has taken the Sensex six months (January 23-July 27) to advance to the 37,000-level from 36,000. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty touched a new intra-day high of 11,283.40, before closing at a record 11,278.35 — showing a gain of 111.05 points, or 0.99 per cent. It bettered its previous record close of 11,167.30 reached in Thursday’s trade. For the week, Sensex recorded a rise of 840.48 points, or 2.30 per cent while Nifty gained 268.15 points, or 2.44 per cent.