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Sensex soars 380 pts, ends at 51,017; Nifty at 15,301; metal stocks slide

Volatility index, India VIX, however, surged 11 per cent to 21 levels ahead of the expiry of monthly F&O contracts due tomorrow

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SI Reporter  | New Delhi 

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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

MARKET LIVE: Sensex gains 400 points, holds 51k; India VIX soars 11%
Stock market updates: Benchmark indices snapped the sideways movement, logged over the past two days, and reclaimed crucial psychological levels last seen on March 12 as recoveries from Covid-19 infection continued to surpass new cases in India. Besides, rally in global markets as a host of central bank policymakers pledged to keep monetary policy loose despite recent signs of an uptick in inflation pulled investors towards riskier asset classes. 

Recently, US Federal Reserve officials had reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, assuaging concerns over rising inflation. Now, the European Central Bank policymakers have said that it may be too early to discuss tapering of emergency bond purchases.

In effect, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 per cent in the Euro region while Germany's DAX was up about 0.1 per cent. France's CAC40 added 0.26 per cent and the UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.07 per cent. Shares in Japan, China, and Australia too gained up to 0.3 per cent

Meanwhile, Dow Jones Futures were up over 100 points, or 0.3 per cent, in early pre-market deals. Futures for S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures also gained around 0.3 per cent each, supported further by a decline in 10-year US Treasury yield at 1.5 per cent.  

Against this backdrop, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex soared 436 points in the intra-day deals and hit a high of 51,073 levels propelled by Infosys, HDFC, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, and Reliance Industries. The index, however, came off highs and settled at 51,017.5 levels, up 380 points or 0.75 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index clinched the 15,300-mark to end at 15,301, up 93 points or 0.6 per cent. Earlier in the day, it had crossed the record closing peak of 15,313 and hit a high of 15,320.

Volatility index, India VIX, however, surged 11 per cent to 21 levels ahead of the expiry of monthly F&O contracts due tomorrow.

Overall, Bajaj twins, Infosys, Grasim Industries, UPL, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, and Indian Oil Corporation were the top gainers on the indices while PowerGrid, JSW Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Tata Steel, and Coal India were the top laggards.

In the broader markets though, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.14 per cent compared with the S&P BSE SmallCap index, which was up 0.69 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index declined 2 per cent after Credit Suisse cut outlook on the sector from 'Overweight' to 'Underweight'. "We book profits on metals, reversing positions added in December-20 and earlier, as P/B relative to market is near a 10-year high. It can go higher and stay elevated in a super-cycle, but we believe the current surge in apparent demand is due to an extreme inventory cycle and not a structural increase," it said in its report. READ MORE

That apart, the Nifty PSU Bank index nursed losses up to 0.5 per cent. 

On the upside, the Nifty Realty added 3 per cent and the Nifty IT index 2 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters) 

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