India’s equity benchmark edged higher on Monday on the back of a rise in major and information technology banks such as HDFC Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. Sensex rallied as much as 350 points and the Nifty 50 index regained the psychologically important level of 18,200 amid positive signals from other Asian markets. Asian shares edged higher on Monday as China economic data surprised at a high level, challenging an economy stuck in recession although falling mainland house prices were a concern.
As of 9:22 a.m., the Sensex was up 299 points at 60,985 and the Nifty 50 index was up 96 points to 18,198.
China’s blue chips were all steady on the data, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent, after surging higher late last week.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.5% as data showing a more-than-expected drop in economic activity in the third quarter only reinforced the case for positive fiscal stimulus.
Wall Street fell slightly last week to break a streak of gains, although the major indexes were just away from all-time highs. S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% in early trading on Monday, while Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%.
Back home, 13 of the 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE are trading higher, led by a nearly 1% gain in the S&P BSE Bankex index. The Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services indexes, Automotive, Information Technology, Finance, Healthcare and Consumer also rose 0.3-0.8%.
On the other hand, the Metal, Power and Utilities indices trade lower.
The mid-cap and small-cap stocks traded mixed as the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.42% while the S&P BSE SmallCap index traded flat.
ITC was the biggest gainer among Sensex stocks, up 1.7% to 237. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paint, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy’s Labs, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank also increase in the range of 0.8-1.14 percent.
On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Auto are among the losers.
Market breadth was quite positive with 1,485 shares gaining while 1,332 shares declined on BSE.
