New Delhi: Stock markets extended the gaining streak to the fourth day on Monday, with the benchmark Sensex rising by 521 points to settle at a more-than-two-month high, driven by buying in blue-chip bank and oil shares and lower crude oil prices.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 521.16 points, or 0.67 percent, to settle at 78,285.07, a closing level not seen since April 22. During the day, it surged 634.15 points, or 0.81 percent, to 78,398.06.
Follow The PSUWatch Channel on WhatsApp
The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 159.50 points, or 0.66 percent, to end at 24,430.35, the highest closing level since April 21.
In four consecutive trading days, the BSE benchmark has jumped 1,806.4 points, or 2.36 percent, and the Nifty by 564.6 points, or 2.36 percent.
Fresh foreign fund inflows aided the optimistic trend in the domestic equity market, analysts said. Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,355.33 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Among the Sensex pack, HDFC Bank climbed the most by 3.59 percent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and Maruti were also among the winners.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finserv, and Power Grid were among the laggards.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.82 percent to USD 71.53 per barrel.
"Indian equities traded with a positive bias despite mixed global cues, supported by stable crude prices. Continued softness in crude would support inflation, the current account balance, OMC profitability, and overall macro stability," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
Broader markets also advanced as the BSE MidCap Select index climbed 0.71 percent and SmallCap Select index went up by 0.47 percent.
Sectorally, Realty jumped the most by 1.82 percent, followed by MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt (1.40 percent), Private Banks index (1.50 percent), Top 10 Banks (1.24 percent), Capital Goods (1.19 percent) and Auto (1.14 percent).
IT, Utilities, PSU Bank, Focused IT and Services were the laggards.
"Markets maintained their upward bias despite mixed global cues, driven by buying in select banking, auto, capital goods and realty shares. The calmness in the West Asia region and hopes for a relatively steady corporate earnings season kept investor mood optimistic, although overall sentiment remains cautious," Ankur Punj, MD & Business Head at Equirus Wealth, said.
Globally, profit-booking in crowded AI-led trades impacted the global market while India could perform well led by large caps due to improvement in FIIs inflows trend, he added.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled higher, while South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended lower.
Follow PSU Watch on LinkedIN
Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note.
US markets were closed on Friday due to the country's Independence Day celebrations.
On Friday, the Sensex climbed 261.79 points, or 0.34 percent, to settle at 77,763.91. The Nifty went up 95.15 points, or 0.39 percent, to end at 24,270.85.
(PSU Watch is India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy. 👉 Click to join our channel now: PSUWatch WhatsApp Channel. Prefer LinkedIn? Follow PSU Watch on LinkedIN. Click to stay connected on Twitter here and stay updated)