Sensex rallies 637 points on tax relief buzz, Nifty reclaims 11,000-mark; HCL Tech, Tata Motors, M&M among top gainers

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex surged 637 points while the broader Nifty zoomed past the 11,000-mark on Thursday following reports that the government may address tax concerns of market participants. After a moderate opening, the Sensex was propelled by a burst of buying towards the fag-end, led by energy, banking and IT counters. It finally finished at 37,327.36, showing a jump of 636.86 points or 1.74 percent. Similarly, the NSE Nifty climbed 176.95 points or 1.63 percent to 11,032.45. This is the biggest single-session gain for both the key indices since 20 May, when they had vaulted over 3.6 percent. [caption id=“attachment_4406205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of stock broker. Reuters.[/caption] Trading sentiment received a much-needed boost after reports said the Centre is likely to withdraw higher surcharge on foreign portfolio investors, introduced in the Budget, and may also take a re-look at the long-term capital gains tax. Foreign investors have been on a selling spree since the Budget was presented in July, putting pressure on both the capital markets and the rupee. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included HCL Tech, Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Hero MotoCorp, Yes Bank, Maruti, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finance, which surged up to 6.43 percent. Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the only losers, dropping up to 3.77 percent. “Markets today started to sense some relief coming in for the capital markets and clarification or rollback of surcharge on FPIs. The recent round of market correction was led by FII sell-off post the Budget and the selling intensified in the last few days, where evidence of our economic slowdown, poor earnings in certain sectors and global volatility as well as the rhetoric of trade wars came to haunt. “Some confidence-boosting measures and steroids for the economy is expected as finance ministry seems to be engaging in extensive discussions with industry participants. However, it’s too early to speculate on policy decisions, but a bounce back after such a huge fall was not entirely unexpected,” said Devang Mehta, Head - Equity Advisory, Centrum Wealth Management. All sectoral indices ended in the green, with BSE energy, auto, IT, teck, oil and gas, telecom, realty, bankex, power, finance, FMCG, metal and utilities indices rallying up to 3.15 percent. The broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices too spurted up to 0.74 percent. Global equities were steady as trade war fears ebbed, while encouraging Chinese trade data propped up Asian markets. Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Kospi and Nikkei ended in the green. Markets in Europe were also trading on a positive note in their respective early sessions. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated 23 paise to 70.66 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rebounded 1.58 percent to $57.12 per barrel.