Stock market benchmark indices ended sharply higher on Monday, with the Sensex rallying 1,233 points and the Nifty climbing to 23,440.80, driven by a steep rally in bellwether Reliance Industries post earnings announcement and cooling crude oil prices.
Foreign fund inflows and positive domestic macro indicators also added to the optimism.
Rallying for the third day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,233.25 points, or 1.66 per cent, to settle at the day’s high of 75,692.78.
The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 387.70 points, or 1.68 per cent, to end at the day’s high of 23,440.80.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries surged 11.64 per cent after the firm posted a record quarterly profit of Rs 29,550 crore for July-September, up 33.8 per cent from the year-ago period, as its oil-to-chemicals business rode a surge in global fuel margins and growth in its telecom arm offset the relatively subdued performance in retail.
Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki were also among the gainers.
Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tanked 4.46 per cent to USD 108.7 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,598.54 crore on Friday, according to the exchange data.
“Indian equities opened the week on a firm footing, supported by better-than-estimated Q2 earnings and improving domestic cues. Domestic macro indicators provided an additional boost to sentiment with October passenger-vehicle sales growth reflecting healthy festive demand, while gross GST collections increased, reinforcing the resilience of domestic consumption and economic activity.
“Global cues were also supportive, with softer crude oil prices and renewed US-Iran diplomatic efforts helping ease concerns around energy costs and geopolitical risks. Foreign investors turning buyers as a global AI rotation also provided support to domestic equities,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
GST collections jumped 23 per cent year-on-year to the second-highest level of over Rs 2.31 lakh crore in October as festive buying boosted domestic demand, according to government data released on Sunday.
Buoyed by robust festive demand, domestic passenger vehicle dispatches breached the record 5-lakh mark in October, with leading automakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Mahindra & Mahindra recording their highest-ever monthly sales.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 settled lower.
Markets in Europe were trading in the positive territory.
The US markets ended sharply lower on Friday.
On Friday, the Sensex climbed 308.49 points, or 0.42 per cent, to settle at 74,459.53. The Nifty rallied 116.35 points, or 0.51 per cent, to end at 23,053.10.
-PTI
