A strengthening rupee against the US dollar also bolstered the trading sentiment even as investors shifted their focus to corporate earnings from trade war worries.

 

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied for the second day by rising 276.86 points or 0.78 per cent to settle at 35,934.72, the highest closing level since January 31, when it had closed at 35,965.02.

The broader NSE Nifty closed above the 10,800 level by gaining 80.25 points or 0.74 per cent to 10,852.90, the highest closing since June 13, 2018, when it ended at 10,856.70.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose by 1.96 per cent to Rs 995.65 while IT major Infosys gained 1.14 per cent at Rs 1,299.15, helping the Sensex to post gains for a second day.

Asian markets mostly closed higher and European stock markets advanced in opening trade, tracking gains on Wall Street on Friday after a strong jobs data for June allayed fears of impact of the US-China trade dispute.

Investors were looking forward to the quarterly results of IT majors TCS and Infosys that will kick-start the earnings season this week, brokers said.

TCS, however, fell by 1.34 per cent at Rs 1,887.65 on profit booking ahead of its financial results tomorrow. The stock had risen by 1.68 per cent to settle at its lifetime high of Rs 1,913.30 on BSE in the previous session. 

Shares of other Tata group companies witnessed gains after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dismissed the pleas of Cyrus Mistry against Tata Sons for removing him as chairman.

Tata Motors rose 0.81 per cent to Rs 273.35 after Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today reported 0.9 per cent year-on-year increase in global sales at 52,049 units in June.

Tata Steel Ltd rose 0.49 per cent to Rs 556.85 on strong quarterly sales, Tata Power climbed 2.09 per cent to Rs 73.20, Tata Chemicals was up 1.65 per cent at Rs 712.90, and Tata Coffee went up 0.68 per cent to Rs 118.95.

Vedanta was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, surging by 3.14 per cent. Asian Paint rose by 3.11 per cent. 

Other Sensex gainers were Yes Bank 2.70 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.97 per cent, Axis Bank 1.83 per cent, Power Grid 1.77 per cent, L&T 1.57 per cent, SBI 1.51 per cent, and ONGC 1.12 per cent.

Kotak Bank rose by 1.05 per cent, Wipro 0.95 per cent, M&M 0.86 per cent, Adani Ports 0.86 per cent Tata Motors 0.81 per cent, ITC 0.72 per cent, HUL 0.72 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 0.69 per cent, NTPC 0.57 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.46 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.34 per cent and Hero MotoCorp 0.22 per cent.

On the other hand, HDFC fell 0.32 per cent, Bharti Airtel 0.22 per cent, IndusInd Bank 0.22 per cent, Coal India 0.11 per cent and Bajaj Auto 0.04 per cent.

Broader markets displayed a firm trend. The BSE small-cap index rose by 1.58 per cent and mid-cap by 1.23 per cent.

Sector-wise, energy rose 1.46 per cent, capital goods 1.46 per cent, power 1.32 per cent, infrastructure 1.29 per cent, metal 1.24 per cent, healthcare 1.16 per cent, oil & gas 1.12 per cent, bankex 0.94 per cent, PSU 0.89 per cent, FMCG 0.76 per cent, realty 0.64 per cent, auto 0.62 per cent, IT 0.59 per cent, teck 0.47 per cent and consumer durable 0.26 per cent.

Market breadth was positive as 1,708 scrips advanced while 907 stocks declined.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.32 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.47 per cent and Japan's Nikkei ended 1.21 per cent higher.

In Europe, Paris CAC edged higher 0.19 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.18 per cent. London's FTSE too up 0.31 per cent.