The Sensex and Nifty made a positive start to the week on Monday as IT, banking and finance counters saw robust buying amid a supportive trend in global equities.
A strengthening rupee, which climbed 17 paise against the US dollar, added to the momentum.
Recovering from a two-session slide, the 30-share BSE Sensex darted up 226.47 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 55,555.79. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 45.95 points or 0.28 per cent to 16,496.45.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.10 per cent, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Bank.
On the other hand, M&M, Bajaj Auto, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid, ITC, Asian Paints and Tata Steel were among the laggards, shedding up to 2.50 per cent.
“Heavy selling continued in small and mid-cap stocks, while headline indices traded positive due to strong support from IT stock and positive global peers. The key factor for the correction is the good performance during 2020-21, leading to peak valuations while liquidity is expected to normalise in the future.
“The ongoing correction will provide an opportunity for long-term investors to re-enter quality stocks,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi, said, “Indian markets started on a positive note following positive Asian markets cues after Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged out of bear territory seen in last week. During the afternoon session markets recovered from lows seen post opening session led by buying in Teck, IT and Energy stocks.”