Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex Monday briefly breached the 22,000 mark for the first time and then managed to end at a new record close with modest gains of 15 points, extending the rally to the fifth session, on the back of continued overseas investor interest linked to upcoming polls.
Capital goods, realty, banking and refinery segments gained while IT, pharma, teck and metal counters fell.
The BSE 30-share barometer resumed nearly 100 points lower on the back of weak Asian cues but later moved between positive and negative territory. It ended at a new closing high of 21,934.83, a rise of 15.04 points or 0.07 percent
This surpassed the previous closing high of 21,919.79 set on last Friday. The Sensex registered alltime high of 22,023.98 today. In five days, the Sensex has gained 988 points.
The wide-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also edged up by 10.60 points, or 0.16 percent, to record its closing high of 6,537.25.
It also touched a new intra-day peak of 6,562.20 today, surpassing previous lifetime peak of 6,537.80 hit on Friday.
Sensex constituents including HDFC Bank, L&T, RIL, M&M, SBI, Maruti Suzuki and HUL notched up handsome gains. TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, ITC, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Gail India, Tata Steel, Wipro, Coal India fell.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2,577.44 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Upcoming data like IIP, CPI for urban and rural India and WPI will dictate the future trend, traders say.
"Positive global cues, optimism ahead of upcoming elections and FIIs buying is leading to sustained momentum," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
Asian stocks closed lower as weaker-than-estimated Chinese trade and inflation data stoked concern over the outlook for the world's second-largest economy.
Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan closed lower between 0.46 percent and 2.86 percent.
However, European markets reversed their initial losses and were trading better in late morning deals. The CAC was up 0.98 percent, the DAX 0.17 percent and the FTSE 0.45 percent.
Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: "Indian equities traded range bound today after Sensex set a new lifetime high during morning trade. They came under pressure after subdued trading in Asian markets after negative data from China.
"Domestic markets are now keenly awaiting the release of important data scheduled to be released this week."
Fifteen scrips out of 30-share Sensex ended higher while the remaining 15 closed lower. Major gainers from the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki 3.74 percent, M&M 3.42 percent, L&T 3.33 percent, HDFC Bank 3.23 percent, SBI 2.58 percent, Bajaj Auto 2.53 percent, BHEL 2.29 percent and RIL 1.93 percent.
Axis Bank 1.41 percent, HUL 1.22 percent, Bharti Airtel 1.18 percent and ONGC 1.16 percent were among winners.
However, TCS dropped by 3.67 percent, Tata Motors 3.20 percent, Sun Pharma 2.64 percent, Gail India 2.31 percent, Coal India 2.25 percent and Hindalco 2.21 percent.
Infosys 1.82 percent, Tata Steel 1.62 percent, Wipro 1.44 percent, Dr Reddy's 1.36 percent and Cipla 1.21 percent were also among laggards.
Among the S&P BSE Sectoral indices, Capital Goods shot up by 2.77 percent, followed by Realty 2.47 percent, Bankex 1.91 percent and Oil&Gas 1.12 percent.
IT fell by 2.42 percent, Healthcare 1.67 percent, Teck 1.65 percent and Metal 1.03 percent.
Total market breadth turned positive as 1,458 stocks closed in the green while 1,348 concluded in the red.
