With hopes of rate cut by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy Review to be held in the first week of April, market’s mood was quite upbeat on the Dalal Street and the BSE benchmark Sensex soared 333 points to close at 25,285 - a nearly 11-week high, while NSE’s Nifty gained around 100 points, ending at 7,704.25 on Monday.
Experts are of view that an accommodative stance of the US Federal Reserve that fuels more capital inflows and the Government’s decision to slash rates on small savings also consolidate expectations that the RBI will step up and lower rate at its first policy meet of 2016-17 on April 5. Besides, lower retail inflation at 5.18 per cent in February provides more room for the central bank to act positively for the domestic stocks which see an upward trend due to sustained foreign fund inflows and a rising rupee.
“Overseas stock markets continued to cheer the Federal Reserve’s accommodative policy stance announced last week while Chinese stocks also edged higher after authorities signaled a loosening stance towards margin trading,” said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager, Equities, BNP Paribas MF.
The 30-share Sensex wrested control of the 25,000-mark again, advanced to a high of 25,327.45 and ended up 332.63 points, or 1.33 per cent, at 25,285.37 - its highest closing since January 6. The gauge had gained 275.37 points on Friday as foreign funds continued to pump in money amid a firm global trend after the Fed indicated a slower pace of rate increases in coming days. The 50-share Nifty too recaptured the 7,700-mark and ended at 7,704.25, up 99.90 points, or 1.31 per cent.