Sensex ends 139 points higher; Nifty tops 13,550

NEW DELHI: Equity benchmark Sensex ended 139 points higher on Friday following gains in Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank, Imperial Tobacco Company (ITC) and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) amid persistent foreign fund inflows.

After touching its all-time intra-day high of 46,309.63, the 30-share BSE index settled 139.13 points or 0.30 per cent up at 46,099.01, just shy of its closing record.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 35.55 points or 0.26 per cent to 13,513.85. It hit a lifetime high of 13,579.35 during the session.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 6 per cent, followed by NTPC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, ITC, Titan and Bajaj Auto.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.

Domestic equities remained resilient but erased some gains towards the second half as concern over probable no-deal Brexit weighed on investors' sentiment, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

European markets saw a sharp gap down opening on this concern. "PSU banks, metals and FMCG continued to attract investors, while profit-booking was visible in pharma, IT and automobile counters," he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo were in the red, while Hong Kong and Seoul ended in the positive territory.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in early deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.56 per cent to USD 49.97 per barrel. (PTI)