BFSI stocks propel key indices up

Mumbai: Equity indices made a winning start to the week on Monday, buoyed by robust buying in banking, metal and energy stocks amid a mixed trend overseas. A surging rupee, which snapped its four-day losing streak, also boosted the bulls, traders said. Rising for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 395.33 points or 0.75 per cent higher at 52,880. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 112.15 points or 0.71 per cent to 15,834.35.

"Domestic indices witnessed a gap-up opening and maintained the levels despite mixed sentiments seen in global equities. In line with contraction in manufacturing PMI, India's Service PMI for June fell to 41.2 against 46.4 in May, having no negative impression on the market. A strong US job data signalled that the economy is recovering at a steady pace, which eased concerns over an earlier-than-expected interest rate hike by the Fed. The overall optimism boosted appetite for most sectors barring IT and pharma, while small and mid-cap stocks continued their outperformance," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Binod Modi, head (strategy) at Reliance Securities, adds: "While improving business momentum with ease of curbs has started offering comfort to the markets, a moderate rise in daily Covid-19 caseload in various states and increasing positivity rates in many districts can be a fresh worry in the near term."

State Bank of India (SBI) was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 1.92 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, M&M and ICICI Bank. In value terms, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank accounted for most of the gains for the benchmark. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, HCL Tech, Titan, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Sun Pharma were the laggards, sliding up to 1.34 per cent.