Mumbai:
Indian equities rebounded towards the fag-end of the session on Tuesday as investors looked beyond Middle East tensions and global trade tiff and took heart from monsoon’s swift progress towards central and north India.
After trading in the red zone for a better part of the session, the BSE gauge pared losses and soared over 350 points, before settling 311.98 points, or 0.80 per cent, higher at 39,434.94. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,490.64 and a low of 38,946.04.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 96.80 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 11,796.45. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,814.40 and a low of 11,651.
The 30-share Sensex was primarily driven by energy, metal, auto and banking stocks.
RIL was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.63 per cent, followed by NTPC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, HDFC twins, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and SBI — gaining up to 2.51 per cent.
On the other hand, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, TechM, HUL, L&T, TCS and Hero MotoCorp fell as much as 1.70 per cent.
Sectorally, BSE energy, metal, oil and gas, utilities, power, basic materials and realty indices rallied up to 2.15 per cent.
While, BSE capital goods index fell 0.16 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices followed benchmarks, ending up to 0.66 per cent higher.
Domestic equities kept shuttling between lows and highs during the day as investors remained cautious ahead of the next week’s Union Budget and meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping over trade matters.
“Markets pared initial losses following India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) statement that India’s annual monsoon rains have covered nearly half of the country, and conditions are favourable for further advancement into the central and western parts this week,” said Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research (Investment Services) – AVP Equity Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.
“Positive sentiment further strengthened in the market in afternoon session on back of buying in banking, metals and realty stocks,” he added.
Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note.
Equity markets in Europe were also trading in the red in early deals.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee was trading flat at 69.36 against the US dollar.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.36 per cent to USD 63.95 per barrel.
In what is seen as a hint of escalation in tensions in the Middle East, the US imposed sanctions Monday on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others, which the Iranian foreign ministry said meant a “permanent closure of the path to diplomacy”.
