Sensex scales 52-week high, jumps over 300 pts; telecom stocks ease further

Domestic equities gained significant strength in mid-morning trades, with benchmark Sensex scaling to a one-year high after investors showed strong appetite for automobile, banking and banking stocks. Taking positive cues from other Asian market peers, the benchmark Sensex surged to a 52-week high of 28,837.88, up 306 points. [caption id=“attachment_2407212” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Besides the stock market indices, domestic currency market, too, witnessed sharp appreciation amid selling of the US dollar by exporters and banks amid strong foreign fund inflows. The rupee surged by 31 paise to 66.51 against the dollar in early trade. Other Asian indices, too, held on to gains, albeit marginally higher, as traders maintained caution with steady optimism in the absence of fresh triggers. At, the 30-share BSE S&P Sensex was at 28,831.31, up 299.20 points of 1.05 percent over previous close. Similarly, the broader 50-stock CNX Nifty was at 8,895.20, up 85.55 points, or nearly 1 percent higher. Among the leading gainers amongst the Sensex pack, Axis Bank led the chart rising 3.3 percent to Rs 618.90. Other top performers such as Tata Motors rose 3 percent to Rs 566.55, Gail advanced 2.2 percent to Rs 403, Maruti gained 2.1 percent to Rs 5,269.90 and ICICI Bank was up 1.8 percent at Rs 266.15. Asian Paints, HeroMoto Corp, SBI, M&M, NTPC, Tata Steel, ITC, Infosys, L&T and HDFC Bank were up around 1-2 percent each. However, telecom stocks lingered in negative territory since the last week after Reliance Jio announced its 4G launch last week. Analysts fear the aggressive data pricing and free voice calls undertaken by Reliance Jio could trigger another round of tariff war and put a dent on the earnings of the incumbents. Extending the fall, Bharti Airtel stock dropped 1.6 percent to Rs 313.75, Idea Cellular fell 0.8 percent to Rs 83.40, Reliance Communication was down nearly a percent at Rs 48.75 and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) eased nearly 2 percent at Rs 6.01.