Four sectoral indices hit all-time highs

Four of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE,including FMCG index,today hit all-time highs.

Four of the 13 sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange,including FMCG index,today hit all-time highs,amid the benchmark Sensex gaining over 310 points.

FMCG,Auto,Bankex and Healthcare indices saw a smart rally and touched their respective life-time highs during the day’s session.

Spurred by a strong showing in the ITC counter,FMCG index emerged as the top performer,climbing as much as 124.79 points to close at 3,687.89.

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In intra-day trading,the index had touched an all-time high of 3,707.13 as stocks of food-to-cigarette giant ITC surged nearly

five per cent to Rs 176.60. Moreover,ITC contributed the most to the 30-share Sensex,which soared 311.35 points to a 32-month high of 19,906.10 points.

“FMGC companies are seeing an upsurge on the back of good monsoon and onset of festive season. Also,the firm broader market is also boosting the investor sentiment,” Geojit BNP Paribas Research Head Alex Mathews said.

In line with the strong market sentiment,the bank index also witnessed a great trading day and rose over 200 points to its life-time high of 13,945.37 points.

Out of the 14 scrips constituting the Bankex,11 ended the day on a positive note while three finished in red. Axis Bank rose 2.44 per cent while the private sector lender ICICI Bank surged by 1.15 per cent.

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“Banking stocks are lifting the broader market for quite sometime,also the foreign institutional investors are pouring in large amount of money in the domestic market. Indian banks are in a better position than its peers globally,” Mathews added.

The auto index also saw a stellar performance and reached its all-time high of 9,407.08 points in intra-day session.

Among the auto stocks,the maximum increase was witnessed in the two-wheeler major Hero Honda which shot up four per cent to end the day at Rs 1,819.80.

Further,healthcare index zoomed nearly 57 points in intra-day trading to touch 5,898.97.