Mumbai, Dec 19 (IANS): Domestic equities witnessed a second day of consolidation amid positive global cues on Tuesday.

Nifty opened higher and touched new lifetime high of 21,505 before ending Tuesday with minor gains of 34 points (+0.2 per cent) at 21,453 levels, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

The Sensex climbed 122.10 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 71,437.19. During the day, it jumped 308.62 points or 0.43 per cent to reach its all-time intra-day high of 71,623.71.

The broader market ended with minor loss as Midcap100/Smallcap100 was down 0.4 per cent/0.1 per cent, respectively.

Stock and sector specific action was seen in the market. PSUs, FMCG and energy gained more than 1 per cent. PSU banks are now well-placed to sustainably deliver 1 per cent RoA, implying scope of earnings upgrade and thus driving continued rerating of sector, Khemka said.

The overall market sentiments remain buoyant on the back of continued FIIs buying and strong macro data. FIIs have already bought Rs 30,000 crore worth of equities in December so far, he added.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the broader market sustained its optimism, but the incremental rally is contracting. Investors are cautious ahead of the Eurozone inflation data announcement, which is forecast to drop marginally. The dovish stance by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) maintained the market sentiments.

Amid this, the price of oil stabilised as the US government announced plans to protect the shipping route through the Red Sea.

After the recent rally of growth stocks, investors are exhibiting interest in consumption stocks as a bargain strategy, he said.