The domestic equity market continued to consolidate on Thursday, but still managed to end at fresh all-time high for a third straight session amid mixed global cues.
International stocks remained unperturbed by the fresh round of tariffs slapped on each other by the US and China.
However, the gains were capped on weakness in the rupee. The domestic unit once again breached the 70-level against the greenback on Thursday.
The 30-share index BSE Sensex ended the session at a record high of 38,336.76, up 51 points or 0.13 per cent. The index at open had scaled an all-time high of 38,487.63.
NSE counterpart Nifty shut shop 11.85 points, 0.10 per cent, higher at 11,582.75. Among 50 stocks, 23 ended the day in the green while 27 in the red. The 50-share index hit an all-time high of 11,620.70 intraday.
The gains in Sensex were led by Reliance Industries (up 1.86 per cent), L&T (up 2.30 per cent), Infosys (1.08 per cent), TCS (1.08 per cent) and Maruti (1.43 per cent).
Reliance Industries on Thursday became the first ever listed Indian company to hit Rs 8 lakh crore in market valuation.
However, banking, financial and auto stocks merged as the top index losers. Tata Motors ended the session 4.33 per cent lower at Rs 257.40. State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra and HDFC twins bled up to 1.52 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, IT, pharma, realty and FMCG ended the day higher. IT and pharma stocks gained on account of weakness in rupee. Nifty Pharma index ended the day at 10,076.80, up 1.27 per cent.
Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank index shed the most. The Nifty Metal index closed the session 1.07 per cent down at 2,866.70 as weakness in metal prices overseas weighed on the index.
The Nifty PSU Bank index closed the day at 3,238.20, down 1.22 per cent with 9 constituents in the red, 2 in the red while 1 remained unchanged.
Globally, the Chinese stock market ended higher as investors looked past new tariffs Washington and Beijing slapped on each other's goods in the latest escalation of the trade war between the world's two largest economies, Reuters reported.
European shares too edged up on Thursday, buoyed by tech, healthcare, and consumer staples stocks – "defensives" which investors reach for as safer bets in times of uncertainty for their strong earnings growth and high dividend payouts, according to Reuters.
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