Sensex Rallies 364 Points, Nifty Ends Near Six Month High Led By Banks

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes rose for second straight session on Monday led by gains in banking, financial services and capital goods shares as more and more industries reopen after coronavirus imposed lockdown. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening and built on the rally in second half of the session as heavyweights like HDFC, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Reliance Industries witnessed buying interest. The Sensex rose as much as 460 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 11,497. With today's gains, Nifty touched its highest level since February 27, exchange data showed.

The Sensex ended 364 points or 0.95 per cent higher at 38,799 and Nifty 50 index surged 95 points or 0.83 per cent to close at 11,466.

Government on Sunday issued guidelines for restarting its entertainment industry even as infections breached the 30 lakh mark. As of Monday morning, virus cases in the country climbed by 61,408 to 31.1 lakh, according to health ministry data.

Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by Nifty Private Bank index's over 2 per cent gain. Banking, financial services, energy and capital goods shares also witnessed buying interest.

On the other hand, power, metal and real estate shares witnessed selling pressure on account of profit booking.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.7 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed nearly 2 per cent.

Zee Entertainment was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 5 per cent to close at Rs 201.20. Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India and HDFC also rose between 1-3 per cent each.

On the flipside, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, Hindalco, Tech Mahindra, Cipla, Titan, Nestle India and Hero MotoCorp were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,669 shares ended higher while 1,192 closed lower on the BSE.