Domestic equity benchmarks rose on Monday led by sharp gains in IT stocks and gains in major markets around the globe. Last week’s comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell spurred hopes of more rate cuts, as he highlighted rising risks to the US job market, though he also flagged inflation continuing to be a threat.
Both headline indices rose 0.4 per cent for the day, with the Sensex gaining 329.1 points to settle at 81,635.9. The Nifty50 gained 97.7 points to close at 24,967.8.
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The top four gainers in both Sensex and Nifty50 were IT stocks Infosys, TCS, HCLTech and Wipro, closing between 2.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent higher.
Among other gainers in the Nifty50 basket were Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, Coal India, Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Eicher Motors, rising around 1-2 per cent for the day.
On the other hand, Adani Enterprises, Apollo Hospitals, Nestle India, BEL and SBI Life were the top losers in the 50-blue-chip pack, closing around 0.5-1 per cent lower each.
Infosys, TCS and HCLTech were the biggest contributors to the gains in both main indices, whereas selling pressure in stocks like ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel played spoilsport.
The Nifty Bank — whose 12 constituents include SBI and HDFC Bank — ended largely flat, down 10.1 points for the day, at 55,139.3.
Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.1 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 finished flat.
Overall market breadth was skewed in favour of the bears, as nine stocks rose for every 10 falling stocks on BSE.
