Market gains 1% to hit new high on FII support; IT index hammered

The market touched a fresh record high and extended its winning streak to the fourth consecutive week amid sustained inflows from FIIs, surplus monsoon, and good earnings, so far but disappointing results and guidance from IT major Infosys put a break to the rally on July 20.

During the week, the Sensex gained 0.94 percent or 623.36 points to finish at 66,684.26, while the Nifty50 added 0.92 percent or 180.5 points to end at 19,745. The Sensex touched a record high of 67,619.17 and the Nifty found a new high point at 19,991.85 in the week.

The BSE smallcap index rose 1.3 percent. DCM Shriram Industries, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy, Arihant Capital Markets, DB Corp, Mishtann Foods, Jai Balaji Industries, Ashapura Minechem, Newgen Software Technologies, Jagran Prakashan, Cerebra Integrated Technologies, Dodla Dairy, LT Foods, Electronics Mart India, Texmaco Infrastructure & Holdings, Heritage Foods, and Jindal Saw gained 20-32 percent. On the other hand, Transformers and Rectifiers India, Krsnaa Diagnostics, Datamatics Global Services, CCL Products India, Himatsingka Seide, and Roto Pumps lost 11-25 percent.

The BSE midcap index added 0.5 percent led by Polycab India, Mphasis, Union Bank of India, SJVN, Gland Pharma, and Bank Of India, while losers were Dalmia Bharat, Tata Elxsi, JSW Energy, The Ramco Cements, and Oracle Financial Services Software.

The BSE largecap Index rose 0.7 percent supported by United Spirits, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, and HDFC Asset Management Company. The losers included Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, and Shree Cements.

Among the BSE Sensex, State Bank of India added the most in terms of marketcap followed by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and ITC while Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, and Infosys lost the most of their marketcap. (Disclaimer: MoneyControl is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.)

On the sectoral front, the Nifty PSU bank index rose 4 percent, Nifty media index 3 percent, Nifty Bank index 2.8 percent, and Nifty pharma and energy indices added 2 percent each. On the other hand, the Nifty IT index shed 3.5 percent.

In this week, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 3,115.26 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 776.69 crore. In July, so far, FIIs have bought Rs 17,697.89 crore worth of shares and DIIs sold equities worth Rs 8,906.19 crore.

In the week, the rupee gained further, rising 22 paise to close at 81.95 on July 21 against July 14 closing of 82.17.