Mumbai, Jul 17 (IANS): Following Monday's flat to positive opening, the Nifty was bullish throughout the day to close at an all-time high, said Deven Mehata, Equity Research Analyst, Choice Broking.

The market traded in positive with the Sensex gaining 0.80 per cent to close at 66589.03, while Nifty was up by 0.75 per cent intraday and closed at 19,711.45 levels, its highest ever, whereas Bank Nifty was up by 1.41 per cent to settle at 45449.75.

Among the sectors, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Fin Service and Nifty Private Bank ended in green, while Nifty Realty, Nifty Auto and Nifty PSE ended on the lower side. In Nifty stocks, SBI, Wipro and Grasim were the top gainers, while ONGC, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel were the prime laggards.

“For investors, the market is very strong and the buy on dips strategy can be applied with a strict stop loss of 19500. Today, banks have shown sharp bounce from the support levels and have attempted 45500 levels. Once Bank Nifty crosses the all-time high levels of 45655, it can head towards 46500 levels and above," Mehata said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said despite the mixed performance observed in the Asian markets due to China's underwhelming GDP data, the Indian market exhibited resilience, in anticipation of a bumper Q1 result.

Nifty50's Q1 consolidated PAT is projected to grow by more than 20 per cent YoY, which can upgrade the full year earnings growth of FY24. Small-caps outperformed as comparatively valuations are attractive trading below the long-term average compared to large and mid-caps, he said.