Markets surge on 4th day led by bank stocks

Stock markets extended the gaining streak to the fourth day on Monday, with the benchmark Sensex rising by 521 points to settle at a more-than-two-month high, driven by buying in blue-chip bank and oil shares and lower crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 521.16 points, or 0.67 per cent, to settle at 78,285.07, a closing level not seen since April 22. During the day, it surged 634.15 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 78,398.06.

The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 159.50 points, or 0.66 per cent, to end at 24,430.35, the highest closing level since April 21.

In four consecutive trading days, the BSE benchmark has jumped 1,806.4 points, or 2.36 per cent, and the Nifty by 564.6 points, or 2.36 per cent.

Fresh foreign fund inflows aided the optimistic trend in the domestic equity market, analysts said. Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,355.33 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Among the Sensex pack, HDFC Bank climbed the most by 3.59 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and Maruti were also among the winners.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finserv, and Power Grid were among the laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.82 per cent to $71.53 per barrel.

“Indian equities traded with a positive bias despite mixed global cues, supported by stable crude prices. Continued softness in crude would support inflation, the current account balance, OMC profitability, and overall macro stability,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Broader markets also advanced as the BSE MidCap Select index climbed 0.71 per cent and SmallCap Select index went up by 0.47 per cent.

Sectorally, Realty jumped the most by 1.82 per cent, followed by MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt (1.40 per cent), Private Banks index (1.50 per cent), Top 10 Banks (1.24 per cent), Capital Goods (1.19 per cent) and Auto (1.14 per cent). IT, Utilities, PSU Bank, Focused IT and Services were the laggards.

“Markets maintained their upward bias despite mixed global cues, driven by buying in select banking, auto, capital goods and realty shares. The calmness in the West Asia region and hopes for a relatively steady corporate earnings season kept investor mood optimistic, although overall sentiment remains cautious,” Ankur Punj, MD & Business Head at Equirus Wealth, said.

Globally, profit-booking in crowded AI-led trades impacted the global market while India could perform well led by large caps due to improvement in FIIs inflows trend, he added.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled higher, while South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. US markets were closed on Friday due to the country’s Independence Day celebrations.

On Friday, the Sensex climbed 261.79 points, or 0.34 per cent, to settle at 77,763.91. The Nifty went up 95.15 points, or 0.39 per cent, to end at 24,270.85.