Sensex extends rally to 6th day, but recedes from record high; check what happened in today’s trade

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex ended marginally higher at 40,165 points on Friday after a volatile session as markets consolidated after scaling new highs. Advancing for the sixth consecutive session, the 30-share index settled 35.98 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 40,165.03. The index swung 269 points during the day, hitting a high of 40,283.30 and a low of 40,014.23. The broader NSE Nifty too advanced 13.15 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 11,890.60.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Vedanta, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Axis Bank and ITC, rising up to 5.18 per cent. On the other hand, Yes Bank was the biggest laggard, tumbling 5.46 per cent, ahead of its quarterly results. TCS, M&M, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, L&T, HCL Tech and NTPC too lost up to 3 per cent. Recent peaks were short-lived and profit booking emerged especially in companies that rallied substantially in the past few weeks, analysts said.

Investor sentiment was also subdued after the release of core sector output data post market hours on Thursday. Output of eight core infrastructure industries contracted by 5.2 per cent in September, the lowest in a decade, indicating the severity of economic slowdown. The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3 per cent in September 2018, according to official data.

Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled higher on optimism over the US-China trade deal, while Tokyo ended in the red. Exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in their respective early deals. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated marginally to 70.89 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.40 per cent to USD 59.86 per barrel.