Sensex Rallies 1,335 Points, Nifty Reclaims 18,050; HDFC Twins Surge On Merger Plans

The Indian equity benchmarks on Monday extended their gains for the second straight session, led by a strong buying interest in banking and financial stocks. The domestic indices surged to hit their highest in more than two-and-a-half months after mortgage lender HDFC announced its plan to merge with private lender HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,335 points or 2.25 per cent to close at 60,612, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 383 points or 2.17 per cent higher to settle at 18,053.

Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1.63 per cent lower and small-cap gained 1.62 per cent.

All of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- ended in the green. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services outperformed the index by rising as much as 4 per cent and 4.67 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank) were the top Nifty gainers as the stocks surged 9.12 per cent and 9.83 per cent, respectively, after the merger announcement. Adani Ports, HDFC Life and Kotak Mahindra Bank were also among the gainers.

The overall market breadth stood positive as 2,682 shares advanced while 846 declined on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, L&T and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers.

In contrast, Titan and Infosys settled in the red.

Technical view: "Our research suggests that sustaining above 18,000 (Nifty) will be an important level for the market to stay positive in the short term. If the market sustains above the support levels, we expect the market rally to continue till the levels of 18,200-18,250. We have observed the momentum indicators like RSI and MACD indicating positive side momentum in the market," said Vijay Dhanotiya, Lead of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Ltd.