Mumbai– The key domestic equity indices — BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange — settled at their highest closing levels on Tuesday supported by firm global cues and healthy buying in capital goods, metal and consumer durable stocks.

The indices rose for the third consecutive trading day.

Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 on the NSE, settled at its highest ever closing level of 11,134.30 points, higher by 49.55 points and 0.45 per cent from its previous close of 11,084.75 points.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed at 36,825.10 points — higher by 106.50 points or 0.29 per cent — from the previous close of 36,718.60 points. It touched an intra-day low of 36,709.72 points.

Earlier in the day, it touched a fresh all-time high of 36,902.06 points.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap rose by 1.77 per cent and the S&P BSE small-cap ended 2.21 per cent higher from its previous close.

“The gains came on the back of positive global cues and gains in cement and metal stocks due to encouraging results,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

Jasani further said major Asian markets have closed on a positive note and European indices like FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 traded in the green.

Tradebulls’ Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dhruv Desai said: “Equity benchmark index closed to a fresh record high on Friday on the back of continued capital inflows and positive cues from global stock markets.”

On the currency front, the rupee closed at 68.95, depreciating by nine paise from the previous close of 68.86 per dollar.

Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought scrip worth Rs 104.34 crore and the domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 513.78 crore.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE capital goods index gained the most, by 454 points, followed by the metal index, up 342.70 points and the consumer durables index rose by 270.76 points.

On the contrary, the S&P BSE banking index and the energy index were the losers, declining by 38.37 points and 0.30 points, respectively.

The major gainers on the Sensex were Larsen and Toubro, up 3.36 per cent at Rs 1,322.55; Asian Paints, up 2.30 per cent at Rs 1,466.70; Vedanta, up 2.17 per cent at Rs 216.15; Adani Ports, up 1.94 per cent at Rs 391.50; and Tata Steel, up 1.91 per cent at Rs 526.70 per share.

The top losers were Hero MotoCorp, down 1.97 per cent at Rs 3,101.45; Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 1.71 per cent at Rs 1,313.35; Bajaj Auto, down 1.42 per cent at Rs 2,650.80; Hindustan Unilever, down 1.10 per cent at Rs 1,668; and Wipro, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 273.35 per share. (IANS)