Sensex soars to 5-month high; Nifty tops 10,800-level ahead of earnings season
The Sensex ended at 35,867, up 209.19 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,831, up 58.90 points. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices added 0.8 per cent each.
The benchmark indices rose on Monday, with the Sensex posting a five-month closing high, driven by index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and Infosys, while the broader Nifty50 posted a near four-week closing high. The broader NSE Nifty closed 0.74 percent higher at 10,852.90, while the BSE Sensex ended up 0.78 percent at 35,934.72. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices added up to 1.6 per cent.
Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned bullish with 1,707 advances against 910 declines.
"Change in focus to upcoming quarter earnings and appreciation in rupee led the market to rally with mid & small cap outperformance. First quarter FY19 result season will kick start from tomorrow with IT heavyweight and investors are keen on upcoming data of CPI inflation and IIP this week to get more cues on market direction. Additionally, global cues were positive due to better US job data," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta, Asian Paints, Yes Bank, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries whereas Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and Coal India were the major losers.
On the Nifty, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Asian Paints were the highest gainers while Ultratech Cement, TCS and Titan lost the most.
Reliance Industries ended 2 per cent higher. Financials also gained, with the Nifty Private Bank Index rising 1 per cent and the Nifty PSU Bank Index climbing 1.6 per cent.
Investors were also looking forward to the quarterly results of IT majors TCS and Infosys that will kick-start the earnings season later this week.
Infosys was up 1.14 per cent at Rs 1,299.15, while TCS ended lower by 1.34 per cent at Rs 1,887.65.
Other IT counters like HCL Technology, Tech Mahindra and Wipro gained up to 1.68 per cent.
Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,480.82 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 968.18 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.
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