Equity markets extend rally, settle higher for 2nd day

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 232.23 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 65,953.48. During the day, it jumped 346.65 points or 0.52 per cent to 66,067.90

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended with gains on Monday, extending their previous day’s rally, unfazed by a weak trend in global markets amid buying in Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries.

However, continuous foreign fund outflows prevented markets from registering a sharp rally.

---

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 232.23 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 65,953.48. During the day, it jumped 346.65 points or 0.52 per cent to 66,067.90.

The NSE Nifty advanced 80.30 points or 0.41 per cent to end at 19,597.30.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped over 4 per cent, emerging as the biggest gainer. Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Wipro, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and ICICI Bank were the other major gainers.

State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Nestle and HDFC Bank were the laggards.

“The Indian market began the data-centric week with modest gains, primarily propelled by strong performances in pharma and IT sectors. Global markets portrayed a mixed picture, with US futures exhibiting positivity in response to a moderation in bond yields, while European markets experienced declines due to weak economic data. Caution prevailed in the market due to the anticipation of upcoming inflation data and the RBI’s monetary policy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.56 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.26 per cent.
Among the indices, healthcare jumped 1.61 per cent, telecommunication climbed 1.28 per cent, IT (1.07 per cent), teck (0.91 per cent), realty (0.63 per cent), auto (0.32 per cent) and commodities (0.28 per cent).

Utilities, bankex, metal and power were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo settled in the green while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.
European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended lower on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.73 per cet to USD 85.63 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,892.77 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. After five months of sustained buying, foreign investors have turned net sellers and pulled out over Rs 2,000 crore from the Indian equities in the first week of August.

After three days of decline, the BSE benchmark on Friday climbed 480.57 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 65,721.25. The Nifty advanced 135.35 points or 0.70 per cent to end at 19,517.