Sensex, Nifty close higher for second straight day on investors' optimism about reforms push in Union Budget; energy, IT stocks lead

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday notched gains for a second session in a row, helped by oil and gas, IT and financial counters, as investors remained optimistic about reforms push in the Union Budget due on Friday. Both indices traded in the red for a better part of the session due to high volatility as participants kept weighing a host of domestic and global factors like weak manufacturing data, fall in GST collections, slow progress of monsoon and concerns over global economic growth. The 30-share Sensex settled 129.98 points, or 0.33 percent, higher at 39,816.48. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,838.49 and a low of 39,499.19. [caption id=“attachment_6669071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] The broader NSE Nifty too rose 44.70 points, or 0.38 per cent, to finish at 11,910.30. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,917.45 and a low of 11,814.70. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included ONGC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Maruti, HCL Tech, Mahindra and Mahindra, HUL, TechM and SBI – rising up to 2.89 per cent. Yes Bank, on the other hand, was the biggest loser on the index, falling 7.60 per cent, after reports that a borrower defaulted on scheduled interest payments on a Rs 1,200-crore loan to the private lender. Other losers included Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Hero MotoCorp – shedding up to 2.47 per cent. Sectorally, BSE oil and gas, energy, IT and utilities rose as much as 1.11 per cent. On the other hand, BSE realty, healthcare, bankex and industrials indices fell up to 1.82 per cent. Broader BSE midcap index gained 0.38 per cent, and BSE smallcap index ended flat. “Stocks globally eked out meagre gains on Tuesday amid worries the global economy was faltering after data showed manufacturing activity slowed last month, weakening appetite for risk. Investors were sceptical of further gains for equities after discouraging manufacturing surveys in the past 24 hours and a US threat of additional tariffs on European goods,” according to HDFC Securities. After a weak start market regained in expectation of improvement in government’s spending to support economic growth with minimum dilution of fiscal target in the short-term. IT index out-performed due to fall in rupee while momentum was seen in bond as premium valuation on equity influenced risk averse to stay on bonds. Analysts said that trade war concern of US-China subsided but a fresh trigger emerged due to additional tariffs on European Union, impacting global market. On the currency front, the Indian rupee was almost flat at 68.95 against the US dollar. Foreign investors bought equities worth Rs 426.53 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.22 per cent to $64.92 per barrel. Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a mixed note, while equity markets in Europe were rangebound in their respective early sessions. PTI