Sensex, Nifty extend gains to hit fresh highs; banks rally

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty on Monday extended their opening gains to hit fresh all-time highs as inflows continued in the Indian stocks markets.

Banks, oil and gas, power and capital goods sectors were the top performers in early trade.

In the morning trade, the 30-share bellwether BSE Sensex rose 1.34%, or 291.26 points, to touch an all-time high of 22,046.58, while the Nifty jumped 1.32%, or 86 points, to 6,580.90.

The gainers included ICICI Bank Ltd that jumped 2.68% to Rs.1,230.05, while Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) rose 1.98% to Rs.858.50.

Among the losers, Hindalco Industries Ltd shares lost 0.62% to Rs.120.45, while Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd fell 0.5% to Rs.2,772.45.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the green. The BSE Bankex was the top gainer, up 2.25%, followed by oil and gas and power indices, which rose 1.21% and 1.06%, respectively.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd was trading at Rs.48.95 on BSE, up 1.24%, as it meets on Monday to consider selling stake in its joint ventures.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan and deputy governors also hold monetary policy strategy meeting on Monday.

Since the beginning of this year, the BSE Sensex has gained 4.05%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $1.88 billion from local equity markets.

Over the weekend, US markets ended lower as investors booked profits. The S&P 500 fell 0.29%, Nasdaq Composite was down 0.98% while Dow Jones Industrial down 0.17%.

Asian markets were trading higher. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.83%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.01%, while China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.45%.

 

pratima kumari

pgdm 2nd sem