BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty rose on Monday, on track for their second consecutive session of gains, as blue-chips rose after forecast of a timely monsoon raised hopes the central bank would lower interest rates in June.

India’s weather office said on Thursday it expects monsoon rains to hit the southern Kerala coast around May 30, a timely arrival for farmers worried about dry weather from an El Nino weather pattern this year.

India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank is set to expand its Chinese presence with the opening of a branch this weekend in Shanghai, China's biggest city and a major global financial hub.

The branch is likely to be inaugurated on Saturday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day visit to China. ICICI Bank's Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar will also be present.

Mumbai: It’s rare that a woman runs a stock exchange—there are just three in the world. Even rarer to find one who was chosen 23 years ago for the crack team that created it and then climbed the ranks to become its chief executive officer in traditionally patriarchal India.

Chitra Ramkrishna, 52 and head of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE), wants to retain the startup culture of her early days that helped grow the NSE into the world’s third-largest bourse by number of trades and the leader in India with an 82% market share that dwarfs the 140-year-old BSE Ltd. When NSE needs something new, it creates a team: Currency trading, bond futures and exchange-traded funds are the fruits so far. Another team is now working on bond innovations to go beyond the current 10-year product.

The benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled over 444.65 points in late morning trade today as participants locked in gains after two sessions of gains and ahead of IIP and inflation data to be released later in the day.

The 2-day pullback rally fizzled out as the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today slumped 444 points to quote at 27062.65 in late-morning deals following weakness in global stocks amid profit-booking by wary operators ahead of the IIP and CPI data to be released later in the day.

The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex today extended its last Friday's gains on positive global cues triggered by strong US jobs data amid China's decision to cut rates and was quoting higher by another 281 points at 27,386.53 in late-morning deals.

Positive overseas developments boosted the market sentiment. Strong US jobs data pointed to economic growth picking up amid China's move to lower interest rates by 25 bps over the preceding weekend for the third time in six months.

The BSE Sensex surged over 574 points to trade above the 27,000 level while the Nifty reclaimed the 8,200 mark in the afternoon trade today as funds and retail investors went about creating fresh positions, driven by the government’s decision to refer MAT issue to a high-level committee.

Besides, a rebound in the rupee from the 20-month low also boosted sentiment.

On across-the-board selling in late morning deals, the stock markets nosedived to four-month lows with the benchmark BSE Sensex plunging 630.64 pts points to below 27,000-level and NSE Nifty falling 180.50 points.

Sentiments were weak in the absence of trigger amid host of negative factors in the backdrop of sustained FII outflows.

The markets have spiralled down this morning, with both the Sensex and Nifty touching their lowest in almost four months, amid geo-political concerns in the Middle-East with index heavyweights leading the decline.

At 10.30am, the BSE Sensex had plunged over 500 points to break below its crucial psychological level of 27,000 and the Nifty has also came under pressure to break below its crucial support 200-DMA. The Sensex was at 26,897, lower by 542 points and the Nifty is at 8,151, dowen 168 points.

BSE Sensex rallied over 291 points at 27,302.63 in early trade today after a long weekend on fresh buying by participants as the May series in derivatives segment began amid positive Asian cues.

The 30-share index, which had lost 385.07 points in the previous two sessions, rose by 291.32 points, or 1.08 per cent, at 27,302.63.

Distinctly weak tendency prevailed for the third week in a row as the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and the CNX Nifty plunged by another 1.5 pct to close at almost four-month low on host of negative factors during the truncated week under review.

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty were closed on May 1, for observing “Maharashtra Day” holiday.

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