Key equity benchmark indices were in upbeat mood on Thursday, as Sensex hit the fresh lifetime high and Nifty reclaimed the 11000 mark.
The indices continued with their northbound run for the fifth day in a row.
Investor sentiment was not only positive on robust earnings season, but was also aided by positive Asian market cues. On the other hand, counters like energy and financial sector failed to join the rally and witnessed a good amount of selling.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) also added to the fortune of the market soaring 4.42% to hit an all-time closing high.
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd has entered the $100 billion market capitalisation (m-cap) league. It was the biggest gainer among the Sensex pack.
Sensex after opening up 158.30 points gathered momentum and hit an all-time high of 36,699.53 during the intra-day trade.
The 30-share index surged 282.48 points or 0.78% closing at 36,548.41.
The index surpassed its previous all-time high of 36,283.25 hit on January 29.
The index has now gained 973.86 points in the last five sessions.
The Nifty also revisited the 11000 mark soaring 74.90 points or 0.68% settling at 11023.20.
This is the highest closing since January 31, when it closed at 11027.70.
The 50-share index is still 148 points away from its all-time high but it closed above 11000 mark since February 1 this year.
"This is not a broad-based rally. The m-cap of Sensex is still Rs 9 lakh crore down. Five-six heavyweight stocks like Reliance, TCS, etc. have added to the rally," said G Chokkalingam, founder and managing director, Equinomics Research and Advisory.
Though the index has touched the lifetime high, the broader market continues to face pain.
The BSE Midcap and Smallcap gauges remained in the red zone falling 0.52% and 0.06% respectively.
"Midcap and Smallcap space have seen an erosion of around Rs 12-13 lakh crore. Substantial pain for the broader market continues," Chokkalingam added.
"The divergence between largecaps and midcaps has widened in 2018 with midcap and smallcap indices still down 15-20% from the top. Even within Nifty - select high-quality stocks with earnings visibility are driving the index with TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance being the key outperformers. We expect the markets to remain in a tight range albeit with higher volatility in 2018 given the busy political calendar ahead," Gautam Duggad, head of research, Motilal Oswal Securities said in a note.
Shares of oil marketing companies (OMO) and airlines jumped after crude oil prices posted their biggest one-day drop in two years. Sector-wise, BSE Energy advanced the most rising 3.07% followed by Oil and Gas (1.60%), Bankex (0.92%) and Finance (0.91%). On NSE, Nifty PSU Bank (1.12%) was the top gainer followed by Financial Service (0.98%). However, BSE Realty (-1.14%) and Auto (-0.77%) were the top sectoral losers.
"Banking stocks have contributed to the indices. Stocks like HDFC Bank, YES Bank have seen some good gains. Nifty heavyweight stocks have been outperforming for some time now. I feel one should start looking at the midcap stocks now. It has been undervalued for some time. The midcap index has been battered for some time now and has corrected around 30% now. It's a game of patience for the midcap stocks," said Rahul Shah, VP-equity advisory group, Motilal Oswal.
Apart from RIL, stocks like Wipro, Larsen and Toubro, HDFC, State Bank of India contributed most to the Sensex pack rising as much as 2.44%. While, Vedanta, Infosys, Tata Motors, Bajaj-Auto and Mahindra and Mahindra were the biggest laggard plunging as much as 3.05%.
Meanwhile, as per the provisional data, the foreign portfolio investors (FPI) sold shares of Rs 742.63 crore on Thursday while the domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 366.4 crore on a net basis.
Globally, Asian stocks and commodities recovered, even as global trade headwinds remain. Shanghai Composite index rose 2.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.60%, while Japan's Nikkei closed 1.17% higher.
The US stocks, however, fell on Wednesday amid renewed tensions over global trade and geopolitics. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.88% lower.
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