Sensex zooms to 17-month high as Fed rate-hike fears ease

Mumbai: Markets put up remarkable moves today, with the Sensex surging by 446 points to hit a nearly 17-month high of 28,978.02, while the Nifty zoomed 133.35 points as investors were in a buoyant mood after a weak US jobs data diminished hopes of an interest-rate hike by the Fed. Both the indices, Sensex and Nifty, recorded their biggest single-day gains in nearly two months. Bulls took over as soon as the market reopened after a long gap, as weaker-than-expected US jobs data, released last week, reduced chances of a near-term US interest-rate hike. A three-and-a-half year high in domestic services sector growth, led by new business orders amid improved market conditions, also perked up market momentum. Auto and banking stocks were the pick of the day, with Tata Motors the biggest gainer on BSE, zooming 7.19 per cent to Rs 589.35, while private sector lender Axis bank followed with a gain of 6.14 per cent to Rs 635.35. Among losers, TCS plunged by 1.17 per cent to Rs 2,484.05 and Coal India slipped by 1.11 per cent to Rs 328.80. “Market is galloping due to continued global liquidity, revival in domestic MF inflows and expectation of strong earnings growth in H2FY17,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. [caption id=“attachment_2837882” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The Sensex resumed gap-up at 28,631.27 and shot-up to an high of 29,013.40 before closing at a nearly 17-month high of 28,631.27, showing a gain of 445.91 points or 1.56 per cent. It had closed at this level at 29,044.44 on April 13, 2015. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged by 133.35 points or 1.51 per cent to an 18-month high of 8,943.00, after moving. The index has closed at 8,996.25 on March 3, 2015. Second-line stocks also witnessed buying, lifting the mid-cap index by 1.84 per cent and small-cap by 0.95 per cent. Rupee climbing to four-month highs against the dollar, as Urjit Patel begun his innings as the Reserve Bank Governor, too had a positive impact. Overseas, European stock markets rose following gains in Asian equities as prospects for a US interest-rate increase this month remained subdued. From Asia, Nikkei rose 0.26 per cent, Shanghai Composite edged up 0.61 per cent, Hang Seng surged 1.12 per cent while Kospi perked up 0.31 per cent. Europe was also higher with Germany’s Dax higher by 0.28 per cent, France’s CAC 40 by 0.11 per cent, however, the UK’s tumbled by 0.32 per cent. Back home, of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 scrips rose, while Sun Pharma ended steady, Major gainers included ICICI Bank (4.25 pc), Tata Steel (3.25 pc), Maruti (3.04 pc), Asian Paints (2.97 pc), NTPC (2.35 pc), GAIL (2.04 pc), SBI (2.01 pc), HUL (1.86 pc), Power Grid (1.77 pc) and M&M (1.43 pc). However, TCS fell by 1.17 per cent followed by Coal India 1.11 per cent, Wipro (0.11 pc) and ITC (0.04 pc). Among sectoral indices, bankex topped by climbing 2.96 per cent followed by consumer durables 2.94 per cent, auto 2.83 per cent, power 1.39 per cent, realty 1.23 per cent, metal 1.21 per cent, oil&gas 1.04 per cent and FMCG 0.97 per cent. The market breadth remained positive as 1,627 shares ended higher, 1,125 closed lower while 204 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to Rs 3,804.43 crore from Rs 3,735.02 crore on Friday. The stock market had remained closed yesterday on account of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’.