Sensex Climbs Over 800 Points, Nifty Above 14,750 As Economy Exits Recession

The Indian equity benchmarks rebounded strongly on Monday, after witnessing biggest single-day decline in 11 months on Friday, after data showed that the country's economy returned to growth in the December quarter, while progress in US stimulus package also lifted sentiment. Buying interest was broad-based led by auto and banking shares. The Sensex rose over 800 points and Nifty 50 index moved above 14,750. HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Tata Consultancy Services were among the top movers in the Sensex.

As of 10:27 am, the Sensex was up 889 points or 1.81 per cent at 49,989 and Nifty climbed 1.7 per cent or 244 points to 14,773.

The Indian economy exited recession after two consecutive quarters of de-growth as the gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4 per cent in the three months ended December 2020 as against a contraction of 7.3 per cent in the September quarter. India is among the few major economies to post growth in the last quarter of 2020. For the full year, GDP is estimated to contract by 8 per cent in the financial year, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a press release.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets also rallied on Monday as some semblance of calm returned to bond markets after last week's wild ride, while progress in the huge US stimulus package underpinned optimism about the global economy and sent oil prices higher. China's official manufacturing PMI out over the weekend missed forecasts, but Japanese figures showed the fastest growth in two years. Investors are also counting on upbeat news from a raft of U.S. data due this week including the February payrolls report.

Helping sentiment was news deliveries of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine should start on Tuesday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.8per cent, after shedding 3.7 per cent last Friday.

Back home, buying was visible across the board as all the 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Auto index's 1.7 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Media, IT, Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank and Realty indexes also rose over 1 per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares were also witnessing buying buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.6 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 1 per cent.

Power Grid was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 4 per cent to Rs 223. ONGC, UltraTech Cement, Hero MotoCorp, Grasim Industries, Tech Mahindra, Indian Oil, Divi's Labs, UPL, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank also rose between 2-3 per cent.

On the flipside, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever and SBI Life were among the notable losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,626 shares were advancing while 530 were advancing on the BSE.