Sensex soars over 1,300 points to 39,346.01, Nifty reclaims 11,500 on euphoria of economy-boosting measures; HDFC Bank, ITC among major gainers

Unlike Asian markets that were trading in the negative, domestic stock markets extending its euphoria over government's economy-boosting measures.

The equity benchmark BSE Sensex soared over 1,300 points to reclaim the 39,000 mark in early session on Monday, driven by gains in index heavyweights HDFC Bank, ITC, L&T and ICICI Bank.

After hitting a high of 39,346.01 points, the 30-share index was trading 1,031.58 points, or 2.71 percent, higher at 39,046.20 at 0930 hours, while the broader Nifty rallied 263.75 points, or 2.23 percent, to 11,537.95.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 783 points at 38,798 or 2 percent while the Nifty 50 was 232 points higher at 11,507.

In the previous session on Friday, the BSE barometer logged its biggest single-day jump in over a decade by surging 1,921.15 points or 5.32 percent to 38,014.62, while the NSE Nifty zoomed 569.40 points or 5.32 percent to end at 11,274.20.

Bulls took over Dalal Street after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a surprise cut in corporate tax rates.

Announcing the latest set of measures to jump-start flagging growth, the Finance Minister slashed the base corporate tax for existing companies to 22 percent from 30 percent; and for new manufacturing firms, incorporated after 1 October 2019, to 15 percent from 25 percent. The market continued to rally on Monday as sentiment investor remained euphoric in the opening session, traders told PTI.

According to Shibani Kurian, Senior Vice President and Head of Equity Research, Kotak Mahindra AMC, corporate tax rate cut is a huge step in boosting the overall profitability of corporate India.

"This step along with some of the other measures announced including that the enhanced tax surcharge introduced in July 2019 shall not apply to capital gains on sale of equity share which is subject to securities transactions tax would go a big way in restoring confidence in the Indian equity markets," she said.

Representational image. Reuters.

One the biggest problems ailing the investment rate was low corporate savings and, to the extent, this tax cut boosts corporate savings, this is positive structurally for the improvement in private sector investment rate, she added.

At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices except for IT and pharma were in the positive territory with Nifty FMCG gaining by 4.8 percent, private bank by 3.7 percent, financial service by 2.9 percent and auto by 2.5 percent.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included ITC, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, L&T, HUL, Maruti, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank, rallying up to 8 percent.

On the other hand, Infosys, TCS, TechM, HCL Tech, NTPC and PowerGrid tanked up to 8 percent.

Most Asian share markets slipped on Monday as investors waited for more clarity on the Sino-US trade talks after recent negotiations, while oil gained more than 1 percent as Middle East tensions remained elevated, a Reuters report said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a negative note in their respective late morning sessions.

Analysts said investor sentiment was fragile with civil unrest in Hong Kong, tensions in the Middle East and worries over whether the United States and China would sign a trade deal soon. Moves were further exaggerated by low volumes as Japanese markets were shut for a public holiday.

Chinese shares opened in the negative territory, with the blue-chip index down 1.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.8% weaker after a weekend of sometimes violent protests that saw pro-democracy activists vandalise a railway station and shopping mall.

The rupee, meanwhile, traded flat against its previous close at 70.94 in early session.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.06 percent to 64.96 per barrel (intra-day).

On Friday, foreign portfolio investor purchased shares worth a net of Rs 35.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,001.32 crore, provisional data showed.

--With inputs from agencies