Sensex again crosses 26000 mark; Nifty rallies to 7767.40

The Bombay Stock Exchange's equity benchmark Senxex hit the 26000-level today, gaining 119.35 points to 26038.30 supported by private banks, technology, FMCG and healthcare stocks.

The National Stock Exchange's broader-based Nifty rose 27.85 points to 7767.40.

About 958 shares have advanced, 932 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.

Shares of HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, TCS, Larsen and Toubro, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindalco Industries, Sesa Sterlite and Gail India gained 1-1.7 per cent followed by Infosys, Reliance Industries and Tata Motors with marginal gains.

However, Hero Motocorp lost more than 3 per cent and Bajaj Auto slipped by over one per cent. ONGC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and BHEL declined 0.3-0.9 per cent.

The Nifty could be range-bound between 7400-7800 near-term, and climb to 8000 by December, Tirthankar Patnaik, India strategist and chief economist at Religare Capital Markets, said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

He said most retail investors have missed out on the rally, and are likely to enter around 7400 on the Nifty.

Patnaik said a further reduction in monetary stimulus in the US will trigger a knee-jerk reaction in emerging markets. He sees inflation receding over the next three to four months, and does not see a rate hike this year.

He was cautious on financial services in general because of asset quality concerns, but bullish on select private banks.