Sensex soars 665 points to close at 36,257, Nifty reclaims 10,800-mark; banking, auto, FMCG stocks gain ahead of Union Budget

Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex zoomed over 650 points while the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800-mark on Thursday on value buying in banking, auto, pharma, IT and FMCG stocks ahead of the Budget. Trading sentiment received a boost as global markets rallied following US Federal Reserve’s dovish policy stance. Heavy short-covering on expiry of January series futures and options (F&O) contracts too buoyed the benchmarks, analysts said. The 30-share Sensex rallied 665.44 points, or 1.87 percent, to close at 36,256.69. The broader Nifty soared 179.15 points, or 1.68 percent, to 10,830.95. All BSE sectoral indices finished in the green, led by IT, energy and banking. [caption id=“attachment_5710841” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to Joseph Thomas, Head Research, Emkay Wealth Management, the market was well bid across segments and sectors throughout the day. “It was mainly propelled by two important factors. The first being the moderation in the monetary policy stance of the Fed, as the key Fed funds rate was left unchanged. The status quo, in the midst of looming fears over an impending economic slowdown, and also as the probability of future hikes may be far and few, catapulted the markets to higher levels. “The second one being high expectations from the interim Budget by way of measures that would alleviate the agrarian distress and boost the employment and consumption levels,” he said. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 130.25 crore on Wednesday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 502.26 crore, provisional data available with the BSE showed. In the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Infosys, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, RIL, Bajaj Auto, SBI, HUL, Tata Steel, Vedanta, HFDC, TCS, ITC and Sun Pharma jumped up to 4.64 percent. On the other hand, Yes Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, and Coal India fell up to 2.56 percent. Global investors were also optimistic about the ongoing two-day high-level talks between the US and China aimed at settling their six-month trade war. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng soared 1.08 percent, Japan’s Nikkei rallied 1.06 percent and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.35 percent. Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.06 percent. In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.38 percent, Paris CAC 40 was up 0.42 percent and London’s FTSE jumped 0.53 percent in late morning deals. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated marginally against US dollar to 71.15. The benchmark Brent crude futures were trading slightly higher at $61.55 per barrel. Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2019-20 here     To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.