The runaway rise in Indian markets continued on Tuesday. With funds and local operators continuing their buying spree, the benchmark Sensex breached the psychological 8,800 mark. The Sensex marched to a new lifetime high of 8808.83 points in the final leg of the day’s trading session and closed at 8799.96 points, translating in a gain of 102.31 points or 1.18% from its previous close. The NSE Nifty closed 33.30 points higher than its previous close at 2664 points. As a result, investors wealth — market capitalisation — rose by Rs 28,000 crore to Rs 22.91 lakh crore. The Sensex opened 9 points higher at 8707 points on the back of mixed trends in the inflows. Though FIIs remained on the sidelines, mutual funds ended up as net buyers. The Dow Jones index ended lower while the Nasdaq Composite index ended with gains overnight on the Wall Street. The Sensex oscillated in a 105-point range in the day’s trading session. With this, the Sensex has jumped by 517 points in the last seven trading sessions. “The market has high expectations about the second quarter performance. The Sensex can hit 9000 level in few days,” said an NSE dealer. Among the top gainers were software services firms, which stand to gain from a firmer dollar, and auto companies who aim to ring up robust sales in the October-November festival season. Infosys Technologies will kick off the earnings reports on October 11. “We are seeing a build-up ahead of earnings, as indications are they will be good, and investors expect good guidance for the second half, too. There are no negative triggers to dampen sentiment,” said a fund manager. Among the Sensex stocks, 21 ended higher while 9 closed with loss. Wipro added the maximum by 5.46% to Rs 401.50. MTNL followed with a gain of 5.33% to Rs 136.25. HDFC Bank added 4.7% to Rs 710. Its ADR closed with a gain of 5.5% overnight. Gujarat Ambuja Cements was the biggest loser, down 3.1% to Rs 76.15. PE ratio on the rise MUMBAI: The sharp rise in the Sensex has now pushed up the price-earning (PE) ratio of Sensex to 18.15. Sensex PE has been steadily rising from 16.46 level a month ago. “Investors need to be cautious when it crosses 20. The Q2 results will give an indication about the market’s future,” said a market source. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had recently gone record saying that PE levels were now in the comfort zone and there was nothing to worry about the Sensex level. ENS
