Sensex, Nifty mark record closing high on Euro zone stimulus talk

The BSE Sensex and Nifty rose on Wednesday to record closing highs as expectations of further monetary stimulus in the Euro zone raised hopes of continued foreign inflows, lifting blue-chips such as ICICI Bank Ltd.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty rose on Wednesday to record closing highs as expectations of further monetary stimulus in the Euro zone raised hopes of continued foreign inflows, lifting blue-chips such as ICICI Bank Ltd.

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The European Central Bank is due to hold its next policy review on Sept. 4, which comes after its president Mario Draghi appeared to open the door for more monetary easing by saying all available tools would be considered should inflation in the euro zone fall further.

Foreign investors bought Indian shares worth $60.4 million on Tuesday, bringing the total for the year to nearly $13 billion in 2014.

Traders now await the expiry of equity derivatives on Thursday, India's April-June growth data on Friday and balance of payments data this week, to gauge near-term direction of the market.

"India remains in a bull run. Inflows would continue as a lot of money is waiting on the sidelines to be invested in Indian shares," said Phani Sekhar, fund manager at Angel Broking.

The broader Nifty rose 0.4 percent, or 31.30 points, to end at a record closing high of 7,936.05, and above the psychologically important 7,900 level. The index had climbed to an all-time high of 7,968.25 on Monday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.44 percent, or 117.34 points, to end at 26,560.15, marking a record closing high and its fifth consecutive day of gains.

Blue-chips, which tend to benefit most from foreign inflows, led the gainers: ICICI Bank rose 2.1 percent, Tata Motors Ltd gained 1.8 percent.

Companies with significant sales to Europe also gained as expectations grew for further ECB monetary stimulus measures.

Havells India surged 8.1 percent, Motherson Sumi rose 4.7 percent, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories ended up 1.2 percent.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp gained 2.4 percent on hopes of reforms on subsidies and gas prices ahead of the government's stake sale expected later this year.

Defence equipment makers rallied after the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion on Tuesday issued the final notification on an increase in foreign direct investment announced by the government earlier this month.

Astra Micro Wave Products Ltd gained 8.1 percent, Bharat Electronics Ltd advanced 17.9 percent while BEML Ltd added 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Indian TV news channel operators surged on strong buying from domestic high networth individuals, multiple dealers said.

TV Today Network gained 20 percent, while New Delhi Television ended up 12.4 percent.

Among stocks that fell, Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 1.3 percent after investment bank Macquarie downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "outperform", citing "massive outperformance" in its shares recently.