MUMBAI, May 8 (PTI): Equity benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded more than 1 per cent while Nifty reclaimed the 18,200 level on Monday, boosted by heavy buying in banking, financial and auto stocks amid a rally in global stock markets.
Besides, continuous foreign fund inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 709.96 points or 1.16 per cent to settle at 61,764.25, as 27 of its components advanced and 3 declined. During the day, it jumped 799.9 points or 1.31 per cent to 61,854.19.
On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 195.40 points or 1.08 per cent to end at 18,264.40 with 42 of its constituents gaining and 8 closing with losses.
“Benchmark Indices commenced the week on a strong note rising over a percentage with heavy weights led by Reliance, Bajaj twins and HDFC twins even as other biggies in the banking space contributed their bit.
“Mid and small indices too rallied smartly as most sectoral indices ended in the Green in today’s trade with the Nifty scaling past the 18,250 mark. Market Breadth during the day was largely good as evident in the Advance-Decline ratio,” S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said.
Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank jumped 5.08 per cent. The other winners were Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Maruti and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Value buying in index heavyweights Reliance, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also added to the momentum.
Sun Pharma, Larsen & Toubro and Nestle were the laggards.
“While the undertone continued to remain bullish, the upbeat US market close last Friday further buoyed the local market sentiment.
“Hopes of interest rate hike cycle reaching its peak and banking woes in the US receding, investors latched upon rate-sensitive stocks of banking, automobile and realty as strong monthly sales numbers are pointing towards a decent recovery,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.
Among indices, auto rallied 1.71 per cent, realty jumped 1.54 per cent, bankex (1.50 per cent) financial services (1.46 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.08 per cent) and services (0.93 per cent).
Only the BSE consumer durables index ended lower.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap jumped 0.94 per cent and smallcap climbed 0.56 per cent.
“Indian equities gained confidence from strong domestic earnings and fading concerns over the US economic slowdown following robust job data.
“The recent weakness in the US dollar is drawing more foreign funds to the domestic market, with FIIs remaining net buyers for seven consecutive days. The US inflation report, due on Wednesday, is expected to remain around the March level of 5 per cent,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Tokyo settled lower.
Markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets ended with significant gains on Friday.
“Nifty rose sharply with the highest gain in per cent terms in the current fiscal. In the process, it recovered in full the losses of May 05.
“European shares opened little changed and Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after a widespread rally on Wall Street and ahead of key US inflation data due later in the week that would offer more cues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 777.68 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.79 per cent to USD 76.65 per barrel.
The rupee pared initial gains to settle lower by 2 paise at 81.80 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday.
“Almost all sectors ended in green with realty, auto, financial services and banking being top gainers. Continued earnings momentum in banking stocks and sustained credit growth at 15.9 per cent led to a rally in Nifty Bank. For the week, we expect the market to continue with its positive structure dictated by corporate earnings and consistent buying by FIIs.
“Investors would watch out for economic cues such as inflation data of India, the US and China along with UK GDP data and BoE interest rate during the week,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.