Indian shares closed higher on Tuesday, advancing for the fourth session in a row, as gains in IT stocks and by Reliance Industries offset a broad sectoral decline.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.19% to 19,749.25, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.31% to 66,795.14. Both benchmarks rose over 0.5% during the session to hit new all-time highs before trimming some of the gains.
Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes logged losses, with media and public sector banks losing 1.84% and 1.23%, respectively.
HDFC Bank, which jumped 1.5% during the session after strong June quarter results, closed marginally lower, dragging the high-weightage financials down 0.19%.
IT stocks were the exception, rising over 1%, led by Infosys climbing 3.67% after signing a five-year artificial intelligence deal with a target spend of $2 billion. The stock was also the Nifty's top gainer for the day.
The IT index has logged gains for four sessions since last week's U.S. inflation data on hopes that the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening is nearing its end.
Nifty 50 heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.85% on Tuesday ahead of the demerger of its financial services unit, effective July 20. The stock has risen 7.09% since July 8, when it fixed the record date for the demerger.
"The markets are continuing their momentum, but a consolidation now will be healthy," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities. "The elevated valuations are a concern, but there will be pockets of valuation comfort as well. It's time for investors to be stock-specific."
Asian markets declined, dragged by weak China data - the MSCI Asia ex Japan lost 0.63%. European markets edged higher.
Among individual stocks, Sheela Foam rose 4.20% on an all-cash deal worth around $262 million to buy rival Kurlon, while IT firm LTIMindtree lost 2.60% after missing June-quarter profit view.
