Indian Market: Sensex ends at 1-mn-high of 36,636.10 pts on back of gains in ICICI

The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too edged up by 65.55 points to 11,053.

Easing tension between India and Pakistan also boosted the market sentiment.

The Sensex edged higher by 102 points to 36,544.86 in early tradeand then jumped by 224 points to hit day's high of 36,666.47 duringthe day. It shaved off gains slightly in late trade but closedpositive at 36,636.10, gaining by 193.56 points as compared to its last close.

The Nifty recorded day's high and low at 11,062.30 and 10,998.85 points, respectively.

The gains in sectoral indices like Energy, Health Care, Telecom,Power, Oil & Gas and Metal kept the positive trend intact for the third stright day today, along with scrips of Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC.

While, selling in Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever and HCL Tech capped its futher gains, brokers informed.

The market breadth was stronger on BSE, as 1,662 shares advanced against 1,038 declined and 150 were unchanged.

The broader markets outperformed the Sensex, as the BSE Mid-Cap index and Small-Cap rose 0.49 per cent and 0.97 pc, respectively.

On the economic front, the unemployment rate in February 2019 was 7.2 per cent, higher than 7.1 pc recorded in January and much higher than 5.9 pc reported during corresponding period in last fiscal year, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on Tuesday.

The World Bank and the Government of India on Tuesday signed a USD 250 million agreement for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP), which will help women in rural households shift to a new generation of economic initiatives by developing viable enterprises for farm and non-farm products.

Overseas, the European and Asian shares were mixed, following an overnight slip on Wall Street as investors watched developments on the US-China trade front.

The US stocks finished lower, as investors turned cautious after initially cheering reports that the US and China were close to completing a landmark trade deal. Profit booking on the back of a two-month rally from December lows also weighed on sentiment.  

Image: UNI