Nifty tops 8,500 to end at highest close since August 2015

Markets extended gains on Tuesday with the benchmark Nifty surpassing the 8,500 mark to end at its highest closing level since August 2015 led by private banking major ICICI Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended up 181 points at 27,808 and the Nifty50 settled 53 points higher at 8,521.

The benchmark index had ended at 8,526 on August 10, 2015. Among the broader markets, BSE Midcap index ended up 0.5% whereas the Smallcap index gained 0.1%.

"The gains have been in tandem with a rally in global stocks and expectations of easy monetary policies by global central banks. Further, expectations of a reasonable first quarter earnings has also boosted sentiment," says Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager, Angel Broking.

Foreign instutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 1,056 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

STOCKS

Financials ended as the top gainers with HDFC, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank ended up 0.4%-1.5% each.

ICICI Bank ended up 4.6% after the private banking major in a release today said that S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'BBB-' long-term issue ratings on the senior unsecured bonds issued by the Bahrain branch of ICICI Bank(foreign currency: BBB-/Stable/A-3).

Axis Bank ended nearly 3% higher after a foreign brokerage maintained an overweight rating on the private lender.

Coal India ended down 1.1%. The company in a release said its board has approved the buyback of 108,955,223 equity shares on a proportionate basis through the tender offer route at Rs 335 a piece.

IT shares ended mixed ahead of their first quarter earnigns. Infosys ended marginally higher while TCS ended flat with negative bias.

Pharma shares also witnessed profit taking after recent gains. Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs ended down 0.6%-1% each.

Among other Sensex stocks, Tata Steel ended nearly 5% higher while Maruti Suzuki ended up over 2%.

Among other shares, Quess Corp which listed at Rs 499 on the Bombay Stock Exchange ended 59% higher compared to its issue price of Rs 317 per share.

Hindalco jumped nearly 5% after Alcoa Inc, the largest US aluminum producer, reported better-than-expected Q2 June 2016 results.

Shriram EPC surged 11% after the company said its board approved preferential issue of shares to the holding company and conversion of the working capital term loan of the lenders into equity shares.

Edelweiss Financial Services ended nearly 1% higher after the company said it plans to enter the general insurance business.

Rico Auto ended up 4% after the company said it has laid the foundation stone for a new manufacturing plant at Pathredi, Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) for the manufacturing of auto components on July 07, 2016.