Sensex Closes At Over 5-Month High As Markets Extend Gains To Second Day

Domestic share markets extended gains to a second straight day on Tuesday, backed by a strong buying interest in banking, financial services and metal sectors. The S&P BSE Sensex index jumped as much as 1.37 per cent - or 520.45 points - to touch 38,571.23 during the session, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 11,401.70, up 154.6 points (1.37 per cent) from its previous close. The Sensex closed 1.26 per cent higher at 38,858.32, its highest since March 3, and the Nifty settled up 1.23 per cent at 11,385.35, its highest since February 27.

In the 50-scrip Nifty basket, Grasim, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Zee Entertainment, closing between 2.70 per cent and 6.50 per cent higher, jumped the most among the 39 gainers. 

On the other hand, Bharat Petroleum, Tech Mahindra, Cipa, HCL tech, ending between 0.56 per cent and 1.25 per cent lower, were the top Nifty losers.

The Nifty Bank index - comprising stocks of 12 major lenders in the country - ended 2.16 per cent higher, led by gains in HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank. The Nifty Financial Services index closed up 1.97 per cent.

HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were the biggest boosts to the Sensex, together contributing more than 200 points to the gain in the index.

Meanwhile, India continued to see a rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. As of Tuesday, the number of deaths in the country was at 51,797, and the number of infections above 2.70 million.

European share markets started Tuesday's session mildly higher. While the United Kingdom's FTSE benchmark was last seen trading 0.01 per cent higher in early trade, France's CAC and Germany's DAX indices were up 0.22 per cent and 0.63 per cent respectively.