Mumbai | Market benchmark Sensex on Tuesday rallied over 481 points, riding on a host of positive factors like sustained foreign fund inflows, stronger rupee and chances of the incumbent NDA government coming for a second term.
Besides, gains in global equity markets also had its impact on domestic bourses. The 30-share BSE gauge settled 481.56 points, or 1.30 percent, higher at 37,535.66. The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the psychological 11,300-level and closed with gains of 133.15 points, or 1.19 percent, at 11,301.20.
In the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel was the top performer, surging 4.61 percent. Other gainers included ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Sun Pharma, RIL, HDFC duo, Tata Motors and M&M — climbing up to 3.69 percent. Bucking the overall trend, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto, SBI and Hero MotoCorp fell as much as 1.13 per cent.
IT stocks too came under pressure amid strengthening rupee, with Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra and MindTree falling up to 1.22 per cent. In a constant boost for investor sentiment, the rupee closed with 18 paise gains at 69.71 against the dollar on Tuesday. Sectorally, the BSE realty index topped the gainers chart, surging 2.60 per cent, followed by telecom, bankex, healthcare and finance indices.
In March, the Sensex has so far rallied 1,668.22 points and the Nifty soared 508.4 points. The 30-share index has gained 864.23 points in the past two sessions, while the broader NSE gauge added 265.8 points.
Analysts said the much awaited flows of money form the foreign institutional investors seem to have started at least for the time being, which is a prominent factor leading to this pre-election rally. Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and will be held over seven phases followed by counting of votes on May 23.
On a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 3,810.60 crore on Monday, provisional data available with BSE showed.
Meanwhile, the market breadth on Tuesday was tilted in favour of buyers as 1,653 stocks advanced and 1,067 declined. “Market continued the bullish rally as investors are expecting the formation of a stable government at the Centre. The rally was broad-based across all sectors barring IT,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said.
Further, investors will take cues going ahead from key macroeconomic data like IIP and retail inflation numbers, to be released after market hours. CPI-based inflation will also give more insights about the Reserve Bank’s stance towards further rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy meet.
Global shares rallied after the European Commission agreed to changes in the Brexit deal ahead of a vote in British Parliament. Asian shares climbed on Tuesday, while US stocks too made some recovery overnight. Globally, investors outlook remained upbeat after British Prime Minister Theresa May managed to secure support from the European Union for her Brexit deal.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.46 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index 1.10 per cent and Korea’s Kospi gained 0.89 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei ended 1.79 per cent higher.
In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.28 per cent and Paris CAC 40 rose 0.28 per cent. London’s FTSE fell 0.32 per cent in early deals. Global crude benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.98 per cent to USD 67.23 per barrel.
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