Sensex rallies on normal monsoon prediction

MUMBAI: After a muted start, the sensex rallied nearly 140 points on the back of predictions of a normal monsoon by the Indian Meteorological Department (Met) and closed near the 39k mark at 38,906 on Monday. TCS, backed by its robust quarterly results, along with HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Motors were the top contributors to the sensex’s gain, while selling in Infosys, Sun Pharma and Yes Bank checked the index’s advance to some extent.

The day’s boost was also aided by strong buying by foreign and domestic funds. End-of-the-day data on the BSE showed that FPIs were net buyers at Rs 713 crore and DIIs were net buyers too at Rs 581 crore.

During mid-session, after the Met said that it expects the monsoon this year to be 96% of the long-period average, which means there would be normal rains during June-September, fertilizer stocks rallied. Gujarat State Fertilizers closed nearly 3% up while Chambal Fertlisers closed 2.6% higher and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertlizers closed 1.6% higher. Two-wheeler stocks too witnessed good buying interest with Hero MotoCorp closing 2.3% up, while TVS Motors closed 1.2% higher and Bajaj Auto closed nearly 1% higher. Companies in both these sectors — fertilizers and two-wheelers — are expect to see higher demand from the rural areas if the monsoons are normal.

Market players also said that while TCS closed higher, backed by robust quarterly numbers, Infosys closed lower as its results did not enthuse traders on Dalal Street.