Mumbai: Benchmark equity index Sensex traded at an eight–week high on Monday cheering gains in global equities as positive US jobs data on Friday relieved some concerns about global economy even as the US-China trade dispute escalated.
On the domestic front, investors focused on optimism over upcoming June quarter earnings, away from the concerns over global trade tensions. Listed companies, barring telecom firms and select banks, are expected to post decent earnings growth in the June quarter (Q1), helped by rising consumption and the low base of last year, various broking companies said. The falling rupee has helped exporters as well.
At 2: 07pm, the Sensex was up 0.83%, or 296.79 points, at 35,954.65, a level last seen on 15 May, while NSE’s Nifty 50 Index was up 0.80%, or 85.95 points, at 10,858.60, the highest level since 13 June.
If Sensex closes at this level, it will be the highest closing since 31 January.
The rupee was trading at 68.64 a dollar, up 0.34% from its previous close of 68.88. The currency opened at 68.51 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 68.49 and 68.72, respectively.
The rally in the markets is attributed to buying heavyweight stocks, mainly due to buying in ETFs following gains in global equities, according to Deven Choksey, group managing director, KR Choksey Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd.
“Participaton is weak in the markets. The rally is not as broad-based and may not be sustainable. For gains to be sustainable, we need concrete participation, and strong signals for recovery,” added Choksey
All the sectoral indices traded in the green. BSE Industrials and BSE Capital Goods index led the gains with 1.37% and 1.23% gains, respectively.
Twenty six out of 30 Sensex stocks traded higher. Financials contributed the most to the gains for Sensex. Private lender Yes Bank Ltd was up nearly 4%, while bigger rival HDFC Bank Ltd rose 0.36%.