Sensex surges 227 points on global rally in stock markets

The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 227 points in early trade on Monday on buying in FMCG, banking and IT stocks by investors enthused by global rally in stock markets. The BSE 30-share index surged 227.44 points, or 0.75%, to 30,692.36 points. The gauge had gained 30.13 points in the previous session on Friday. All sectoral indices led by FMCG, realty, capital goods, metal and auto were in the green, rising up to 1.76%. Also, the NSE Nifty gained 62.55 points, or 0.66%, to 9,490.45 points.

Trading sentiment got a boost after the defence ministry last week broadly finalised a policy under which select private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities. FMCG giant ITC rose the most among 30 Sensex constituents, climbing 2.82% to Rs 293.95. Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro rose 1.34% to Rs 450.60. Adani Ports rose by 1.75% and TCS by 1.5%. Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel rose by around 1% in early trade.

ICICI Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries were also trading with gains of up to 1%. Among other stocks, BEL and BHEL too were up by 2.12%. Reliance Defence and Engineering was up 2.28%. State Bank of India, which posted two-fold jump in net profit for the last quarter of FY2016-17, was trading down by over 1% due to profit booking by investors after a recent rally in the stock. Losses of up to 1% in Sun Pharma, HDFC, Asian Paints and Gail capped the gains of the benchmark Sensex.

Firming trend at other Asian markets cheered by the weekend rally at the Wall Street mainly accelerated buying activity on the domestic bourses, brokers said. Sustained buying by domestic institutional investors too influenced sentiments, they added. In other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.75%, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.30%. Shanghai Composite Index, however, was marginally down by 0.11%. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.69% higher on Friday.

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National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)