Sensex Closes 307 Points Higher, Nifty Settles At 10,888
Domestic stock markets finished on a firm footing on Monday, extending their gains to the fifth consecutive session. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 307.14 points or 0.85 per cent higher at 36,270.07, while the broader NSE Nifty settled at 10,888.35, up 82.90 points or 0.77 per cent. Advances were led by metal, financial services and FMCG shares. Major gainers on the NSE were Tata Motors, Power Grid Corporation and HDFC, which closed between 4.52 and 3.09 per cent higher. Thirty-four out of the 50 Nifty stocks finished higher.
Most of the sectoral indices on the NSE closed higher.
The Nifty Metal, comprising metal stocks, gained 2.02 per cent. Vedanta's stock closed 1.9 per cent higher on the NSE, after an environment court directed the Tamil Nadu state pollution regulator to pass a fresh order of renewal of consent for the company's copper smelter within three weeks.
"Belying weak global cues, Indian markets continued their upward momentum with the stabilisation of crude and rupee providing more confidence to global investors. Markets continue to build in some loosening in monetary policy and measures to push rural spend," said Viral Berawala, CIO, Essel Mutual Fund.
Analysts, however, expect global events to keep domestic markets volatile in the near term.
"Definitely expecting some volatility in the near term due to global events like Fed (Federal Reserve) meet, Brexit," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, was quoted as saying in a report by news agency Reuters.
The US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to deliver its fourth rate hike of the year in its policy statement due on Thursday.
"The valuations in the markets are already high and if the US Fed Reserve says that it would not hike rates in the same frequency next year, expect valuations to rise even further."
On Friday, foreign portfolio investors bought while domestic institutional investors sold net equities worth Rs. 861.94 crore and Rs. 302.52 crore respectively, provisional data from the NSE showed.
(With agency inputs)