With market-driven norms announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget on Monday, bulls ran amok on Dalal Street and continued cheering the domestic investors for the third day in a row. As a result, the wealth barometer got richer by Rs 5.32 lakh crore, while the BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday soared 364 points to 24,607 - nearly a one-month high - driven by a buying uptick amid positive global cues.
It has been observed that the index has risen 1,604.99 points in three sessions - the best three-day gain since September 2013. The market capitalisation or m-cap of BSE-listed companies soared by Rs 5,32,520 crore to Rs 91,15,665 crore in the three-day rally. “Markets rose for the third successive day post Budget. The net buying from FIIs also improved sentiments,” said Dipen Shah, Senior Vice-President & Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.
Similarly, the rupee also rose for the fifth straight session to close at a fresh 7-month high of 67.34, strengthening by another 20 paise on sustained selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid strong rally in domestic equity market. The domestic currency was further supported by unwinding of long-dollar positions by speculators.
Most of the Asian indices ended on a firm footing, tracking overnight gains in the US on the back of solid job numbers and strength in commodities, which cheered up investors. Buying accelerated on expectations that RBI would reciprocate the Government’s commitment to fiscal prudence with a rate cut sooner than later after a private survey showed that services sector activity fell to a 3-month low amid muted growth in new orders.
The 30-share Sensex ended the session at 24,606.99, its highest closing since February 8, up 364.01 points, or 1.50 per cent. This is its best three-day gain since September 2013. The gauge had gained 1,241 points in the previous two sessions after the presentation of the Budget 2016-17.
The NSE Nifty also regained control of the crucial 7,400-mark and added 106.75 points, or 1.45 per cent, at 7,475.60 at the close. lending more shine to the growth story, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it expects India to grow at 7.3 per cent this fiscal and 7.5 per cent next year even as recovery remains uneven, which boosted sentiment.
Data showed that foreign institutional investors, who had been major sellers for several sessions, net bought shares worth Rs 1,437.50 crore in the Wednesday trade, adding to the level of optimism.
All barring four in the 30-share Sensex pack advanced. Tata Steel led the charge by surging 7.17 per cent to Rs 286.30 while Tata Motors zoomed 6.10 per cent to Rs 336.35. l&T, BHEl, Dr Reddy’s, GAIl, Adani Ports, TCS, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma too supported the upmove. “FIIs are coming back stronger to India compared to other emerging markets as elaborated by the outperformance this week. Signs of stabilisation in the global market coupled with a disciplined Union Budget provided an edge to the Indian market,” said Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,736 stocks ended higher and 899 closed lower while 145 ruled steady out of the total 2,780. The total turnover declined to Rs 2,869.89 crore from Rs 3,356.08 crore on Wednesday