Sensex closes 304 points higher, Nifty at 10,583, realty; auto stocks surge

New Delhi: The domestic indices ended nearly 1 percent higher on Monday taking cues from its Asian counterparts.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,446, up 304 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,583, up 92 points.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Realty index surged over 3 percent on Monday led by a rise in shares of Oberoi Realty and Prestige Estates Projects and the Nifty Auto index ended over 2 percent led by Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors.

Later this week, the market participants will look forward to key economic data such as Nikkei Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Fiscal Deficit and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Investor sentiment was bolstered after a Morgan Stanley report said India's economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7 percent. The GDP numbers will be released on Wednesday.

A firming trend on Asian and European bourses following a good show by Wall Street on Friday added to the buying momentum, brokers said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 34,225.72 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day's high of 34,483.39 before ending at 34,445.75, up 303.60 points, or 0.89 percent.

This level was last seen on February 5, when the Sensex had closed at 34,757.16. The index had rallied 322.65 points in the previous session on Friday on value-buying by investors in recently-battered blue-chip stocks. The Nifty finished the day at 10,582.60, showing a hefty gain of 91.55 points, or 0.87 percent, after shuttling between 10,592.95 and 10,520.20.

"Market is gradually recovering lost ground, supported by positive global cues. Investors are waiting for Q3 GDP and IIP data. GDP is expected to grow at 6.9 percent which has raised a positive sentiment while reducing the volatility in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

Gains were led by realty, auto, capital goods, banking, infrastructure, metals, power, oil & gas, PSU and consumer durables sectors, which rose up to 3.30 percent. IT, tech and healthcare indices ended in the red.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,514.03 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 486.32 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

Maruti Suzuki emerged as the leader of the Sensex pack today, with a 3.41 percent rise, followed by Tata Motors at 3.22 percent. Other gainers were IndusInd Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, M&M, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Ltd, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, RIL, ONGC, Tata Steel and NTPC, gaining up to 2.94 percent.

In contrast, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and SBI succumbed to profit-booking and fell by up to 2.46 percent. In keeping with the overall trend, the small-cap and mid-cap indices rose 0.88 percent and 0.74 percent.

Shares of scam-hit Punjab National Bank lost another 1.32 percent. Gitanjali Gems too slumped 4.84 per cent to Rs 23.60. Shares of Simbhaoli Sugars plunged 15.73 percent today after CBI registered a case against the company, its chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, deputy MD Gurpal Singh and others in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 97.85 crore. The company's lender Oriental Bank of Commerce also fell by 10.02 percent.

Most Asian and European markets rallied after US stocks rose last Friday to end a bumpy week with slight gains, as falling bond yields provided a reprieve for investors concerned about rising inflation.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.19 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.74 percent, while Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.23 percent.

European shares too were in the positive zone in their early deals, with Frankfurt's DAX rising 0.78 percent and Paris CAC 40 up 0.72 percent. London's FTSE was up 0.42 percent.

 

(With agency inputs)