Sensex, Nifty rise for third straight session

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed in the green for the third consecutive session on Monday, boosted by buying in auto, banking and capital goods counters despite a rise in crude oil prices fuelling concerns about inflation.

With overall positive investor sentiment in the domestic market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 114.92 points or 0.19 per cent to close at 59,106.44 points with 22 of its components ending in the green and eight closing in the red.

The broader 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 38.30 points or 0.22 per cent to close at 17,398.05 points. As many as 32 Nifty shares closed with gains while 18 stocks declined.

While gains in auto, capital goods and banking and financials shares supported the uptrend, selling in IT, FMCG and metal shares restricted the gains in the key indices.

"Investors were of the view that the easing price pressure would provide the central bank with leeway to pause the rate hike. However, the surprise production cut by OPEC+ has fuelled concerns about inflationary pressure, which may prompt central banks to remain hawkish," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

During the intra-day trade, Sensex moved in a range of 58,793.08 points to 59,204.82 points.

In the last three trading sessions, Sensex has surged 1,492 points or 2.51 per cent while Nifty has climbed 446 points or 2.9 per cent.

Among the Sensex shares, Maruti Suzuki rose the most, gaining 2.52 per cent after the company posted its highest ever sales at 19,66,164 units for the last fiscal.

Other gainers include Bajaj Finance (1.74 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.56 per cent), NTPC (1.4 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (1.26 per cent), HCL Tech (1.12 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (1.03 per cent).

However, IT major Infosys fell 1.17 per cent. Besides, ITC, HUL, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Tata Steel declined.

"Upbeat global cues combined with bargain hunting are helping indices inch higher. Continued recovery in the midcap and smallcap space further eased the pressure," Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research at Religare Broking Ltd, said.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap rose 86.88 points or 0.36 per cent to 24,152.47 points and the Smallcap jumped 314.26 points or 1.17 per cent to 27,271.27 points.

Among sectoral indices, BSE Telecom spurted 1.78 per cent, Auto (1.39 per cent), Consumer Discretionary (1.12 per cent), Realty (0.80 per cent), Financial Services (0.61 per cent) and Bankex (0.54 per cent).

Meanwhile, manufacturing activities in the country touched a three-month high in March boosted by faster expansion in new orders and output amid demand resilience and easing of cost pressures, according to a monthly survey.

On Monday, global markets were mixed as a spike in crude oil prices fuelled fears of high energy prices in Europe and the US.

Oil prices jumped around 5 per cent to nearly one month high of USD 84.19 per barrel on Monday after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers announced a production cut of 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4 per cent while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, RBI's rate-setting panel on Monday started its three-day meeting amid expectations that the central bank may go for 25 basis points hike in benchmark interest rate, probably the last in the current monetary tightening cycle that began in May 2022.

The rupee declined by 9 paise to 82.30 against the US dollar as Brent crude surged to USD 84 per barrel levels.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 321.93 crore.