Sensex, Nifty Rise For 4th Straight Session; Gold Gains Rs 179

Mumbai: Equity gauges Sensex and Nifty rallied for the fourth straight session on Monday on hectic buying in mainly pharma, power and banking shares as investors brushed aside concerns over rising coronavirus cases amid positive global cues.

At the closing bell, the 30-share BSE index quoted 295.94 points or 0.60 per cent higher at 49,502.41. Over the last four sessions, the Sensex has gained 1,248.90 points or 2.58 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 119.20 points or 0.80 per cent to 14,942.35 taking its total gains over the four days to 445.85 points or 3.07 per cent.

On Monday, L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, NTPC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, ONGC and M&M.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech and Axis Bank were five losers among the 30 shares.

Sectorally, BSE metal, capital goods, healthcare, power, utilities and industrials indices rose up to 3.53 per cent, while IT was in the red.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 0.97 per cent.

"Domestic equities continued to defy concerns of rising COVID-19 cases and extended mobility restrictions by several states by extending gains for the fourth consecutive trading day," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Favourable global cues, steady March quarter earnings along with favourable commentary, liquidity support announced by the RBI and absence of nationwide lockdown have aided domestic equities to shrug off rising COVID-19 cases in the country, he further noted.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Domestic bourses continued to ride on its optimistic wave mirroring strong across-the-board buying with metals, auto and pharma stocks leading the rally."

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Hong Kong was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading with losses in mid-session deals.

Gold Gains Rs 179; Silver Up By Rs 826

Gold in the national capital on Monday rose by Rs 179 to Rs 47,452 per 10 gram helped by strong buying in the global precious metal, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 47,273 per 10 gram.

Silver also jumped Rs 826 to Rs 71,541 per kg, from Rs 70,715 per kg in the previous trade.

In the international market, gold was trading with gains at USD 1,836 per ounce and silver was flat at USD 27.65 per ounce.

HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said, "Gold prices traded higher on weaker dollar and fall in the US bond yields."

Rupee Settles 16 Paise Higher At 73.35 Against Dollar; Rises For 3rd Session

The rupee rose by 16 paise to close at 73.35 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, marking its third straight session of gains on the back of positive domestic equities and weak American currency.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.34 and hit an intra-day high of 73.33 and a low of 73.48.

The local unit finally settled at 73.35, registering a gain of 16 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.51 against the American currency.

The rupee has strengthened by 56 paise in the three sessions to Monday.

"The Indian rupee appreciated amid weakness in dollar and rise in risk appetite in the global markets. Markets sentiments improved on speculation that US Federal Reserve will maintain its ultra low interest rates for quite some time," said Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

However, sharp gains were prevented on surge in crude oil prices and FII outflows.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,142.75 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 per cent to 90.15.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 295.94 points or 0.60 per cent higher at 49,502.41, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 119.20 points or 0.8 per cent to 14,942.35.

Rupee may slip on concern that rising COVID-19 cases in India and lockdown restriction in some states may hurt economic recovery. Traders fear that worsening situation in India may put pressure on central government to announce nationwide lockdown for few days to curb outbreak, Mukadam said.

After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the health ministry.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.51 per cent to USD 68.63 per barrel.