Sensex gains 1.1%; FIIs pump in Rs 790 cr

After falling for two consecutive sessions, equity markets on Monday rose on the back of strong opening of European markets, a rally in oil stocks and support from Reliance counters. Provisional data showed foreign institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 792 crore in the cash segment.

Analysts said the benchmark indices could be headed higher as major stocks had seen a breakout.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) rose 2.33 per cent to Rs 1,088. The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) shares, driven by news, were top gainers among other benchmark stocks. Reliance Communication was up 4.65 per cent to Rs 201 while Reliance Infrastructure rose 4.04 per cent to Rs 1,215 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 3.19 per cent at Rs 1,304. During the day, it rose to Rs 1,330, its highest since January 2008.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 200 points, or 1.14 per cent, and closed at 17,774. The broader index, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), gained 64.5 points, or 1.22 per cent, and closed at 5,333.

“After a breakout in Reliance counters, another heavyweight, ONGC, has picked up momentum, as the government announced oil price de-regulation. This is a positive sign and it seems the Nifty is headed above 5,500,” said R L Narayanan, vice-president of institutional equities at Bonanza Capital.

Manish Sonthalia, equity head at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, “The markets should maintain momentum as there are no negative surprises on the domestic front. I believe the Nifty should trade between 5,200 and 5,600 in July. However, the only worry is that the global situation is still confusing.”

June-quarter earnings, to be announced by mid-July, will provide further cues to the market.

The government last week freed petrol prices and raised prices of other state-subsidised fuels like diesel, kerosene and cooking gas that could reduce its fiscal deficit from the projected 5.5 per cent of the gross domestic product.

The BSE Midcap Index was up 1.14 per cent while the BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.10 per cent higher. Among sectoral indices, the BSE Consumer Durable index rose 2.83, the BSE Oil & Gas Index gained 2.29 per cent, the BSE Realty Index advanced 2.15 per cent while the BSE Power Index rose 1.94 per cent.

Among key benchmark Europe indices, the CAC 40 of France rose 0.96 per cent, the DAX of Germany gained 0.94 per cent while the FTSE of the UK was up 0.09 per cent at 7 pm IST. However, Asian markets were mixed, as Shanghai Composite fell 0.69 per cent and Nikkei was down 0.45 per cent. Taiwan Weighted gained 0.35 per cent and Straits Times was up 0.64 per cent.