Markets End in Green: Closed Above 19K

Markets advanced 2% following firm global cues, sustained investment by foreign institutional investors and rally in heavyweight Reliance Industries. After grinding lower for three consecutive sessions, Nifty opened in the green and moved higher led by gains in frontline stocks-Larsen & Toubro, ITC, RIL and Infosys. The index managed to hold on to the gains and touched a high of 5,737 in the last leg of the trade. Finally, the S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,729, up 104 points and the Sensex ended at 19,078, up 351 points. The benchmark Sensex last crossed 19K on April 29. Foreign Institutional Investors have pumped in $2.2 billion or Rs 9807 crore in Indian equities in the past eight trading sessions. Food inflation for the week ended June 25 eased to seven week low, at 7.6% compared to 7.8% in the previous week which also supported the upbeat sentiment. Markets across Asia eked out gains, shrugging off deposit and lending rate hike of 25 bps in China. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.7%, and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged down 0.1%. BSE Realty index ended on firm ground, up 2.3%. DB Realty surged 8%, Anant Raj Industries advanced 7% and Peninsula Land gained 3.5%. Top gainers on Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 3.9%, Hindalco rallied 3.6% and ITC was up 3.3%. Sterlite was the only stock which ended in the red, down 0.7%. From the broader markets midcap and the small cap indices gained 1.1% each. Market breadth was positive, 1898 stocks advanced for 968 stocks which declined.