Indices close at new lifetime highs as markets hold firm

The markets opened strong, showing no signs of profit booking following yesterday's huge rally. The bounce back in crude prices and weakness in most Asian markets did not have much of an impact on the sentiment as the Sensex went past the 8500 mark in opening trades.

The indices dipped sharply and lost almost a third of a per cent within minutes of opening only to bounce back and go past previous record levels. The Sensex saw a high of 8586 and the Nifty touched 2592 in intra-day trades, both lifetime highs.

The indices dipped sharply in early afternoon trades and lost all their gains in 10 minutes or so. After trading in a range for an hour, the markets recovered and closed with descent gains. Both indices closed at new lifetime closing highs.

Sensex closed at 8526, a gain of 47 points, and the Nifty at 2575, higher by 18 points. Nifty September futures closed at a discount of 1 point to the spot index.

Tata Motors was the biggest gainer among the large caps. The stock remained firm through out the day and was trading more than 5 per cent higher in afternoon trades. The stock closed more than 4 per cent higher.

ONGC remained firm throughout the session and closed with gains of over 2 per cent. Even the intra-day decline in afternoon trades did not affect the stock. Reliance opened firm and surged ahead helping the indices in the morning. The stock declined sharply in afternoon trades before closing with gains of more than half a per cent.