Sensex Surges Over 800 Points, Nifty Settles Above 14,900 Led By Banks

The Indian equity benchmarks surged on Monday as market sentiment improved after domestic coronavirus cases fell below the 300,000 mark for the first time since April 21. The S&P BSE Sensex surged as much as 895 points and Nifty 50 index closed above its important psychological of 14,900. State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, State Bank of India and Axis Bank were among the op movers in the Sensex.

The Sensex ended 848 points or 1.74 per cent higher at 49,581 and Nifty 50 index jumped 245 points or 1.67 per cent to close at 14,923.

India reported 281,386 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, the lowest since April 21, helped by extended lockdowns in some states.

"On reports of a sharp decline in the Covid19 cases in India, we saw a smart recovery in the market. Financial sector did extremely well and the Bank- Nifty gained 1000 points over its previous closing and closed 4 per cent higher. As usual, we saw a strong surge in HDFC twins and Bajaj Twins, which helped the market move higher. After hitting the major support levels, the metal stocks bounced back sharply. The markets rallied throughout the day and closed at the highest point of the day. Tomorrow, if global markets support and domestic news flow continue to favor, then we would see 15000 or 15050 at the opening. On the other hand, any weak opening around 14870/14850 would be a buying opportunity in the market. The focus should be on financials, Auto and commodities stocks with a short term view," Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities said in a statement.

Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Bank index's over 4 per cent gain. Nifty Auto, Financial Services, Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank and Realty indexes also rose between 1.4-3.8 per cent.

On the other hand, select media and pharma stocks witnessed selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1.84 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 1.15 per cent.

IndusInd Bank was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 7.5 per cent to close at Rs 958. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, UPL, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, HDFC, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Mahindra Bank also rose 2-6.6 per cent.

On the flipside, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, SBI Life, Nestle India, HDFC Life, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,099 shares ended higher while 1,051 closed lower on the BSE.