MUMBAI: Across the board buying lifted sensex by 941 points on Monday to close at 74,671, with
financials
leading. No news of escalation of geopolitical tensions in West Asia, softening of govt bond yields in the US and some steady corporate performance in the domestic market over the weekend added to the positive sentiment on
Dalal Street
as markets opened for trading.
After steady trades in the early hours, leading indices gained strength and rallied to close near the day’s highs.
Sensex touched an intra-day high at 74,721 points and closed near that level, up 1.3% on the day. On the NSE, Nifty gained 223 points or 1% to close at 22,643 points. Some short covering also helped the gains during closing hours, market players said. The surge on Monday was the biggest since March 1 (1,245 points).
According to Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services, Indian markets rebounded, aided by upbeat earnings by US tech sector leaders and a drop in US 10-year yields. Domestically, the Bank Nifty index outperformed, driven by strong performance of some of the banks during the fourth quarter that ended in March. “An ease in tensions (in West Asia), coupled with stable earnings, is expected to maintain positive
market sentiment
.”
On Monday, the Bank Nifty scaled a new life-high at 49,474 points. The day’s session also saw India VIX — a gauge for volatility — jump by 12%, but that didn’t stop local investors from taking the indices higher, dealers said.
Monday’s rally made investors richer by nearly Rs 3 lakh crore, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 413.2 lakh crore, official data showed. The day’s gains came mainly on the back of buying by speculators and non-institutional investors. According to BSE data, domestic institutions and foreign funds were net buyers at Rs 692 crore and Rs 169 crore respectively.
Going forward, the decision late on Wednesday by the US Fed’s rate setting committee and the non-farm payroll data for the US could dictate markets’ trend, Nair said.
