Stocks rise for 3rd day; Sensex closes above 60,000, Nifty scales 17,900

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose about 322 points to close above the 60,000 level on Monday, tracking gains in banking, IT and energy stocks amid positive global equities.

Rising for a third straight day, the 30-share barometer closed higher by 321.99 points or 0.54 per cent at a three-week high of 60,115.13.

As many as 21 of the index constituents closed in the green. After a strong opening, the index touched a day’s high of 60,284.55 and a low of 59,912.29. The broader NSE Nifty spurted by 103 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 17,936.35 points, with 36 of its constituents ending with gains.

In the three-day rally, Sensex advanced 1,086 points, while Nifty gained nearly 312 points. Foreign fund buying, crude oil prices trading near $93 level, and macro data reflecting the strong growth recovery, boosted investor sentiment.

Gains in global equity markets also propped up the local equities.

“Domestic economy is witnessing strong vigour and the same is assisting a steady growth in Indian equities. A 15.5 per cent YoY increase in bank credit during August suggests that the economy is recovering rapidly,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

Among Sensex stocks, Titan rose the most by 2.39 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel. Gains in RIL, Infosys, TCS, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and L&T aided the rally.

HDFC fell the most by 0.43 per cent, while HDFC Bank and Nestle also declined.

“The markets started the week on a firm note and gained over half a per cent, in continuation of the prevailing trend. Firm global cues triggered an upbeat start in Nifty and it almost retested the previous high of 18,000 mark in early trade and remained range-bound thereafter,” said Ajit Mishra, V-P-research, Religare Broking.

$ demand caps Rs gains

The rupee ended up marginally higher after hitting a near two-week high on Monday, as dollar demand from importers capped gains.

Asian markets got a lift as the dollar index, which measures the currency against six majors, slid 1 per cent to fall below 108 due to a strengthening euro on hawkish cues by the European Central Bank.

The partially convertible rupee closed up 0.1% to 79.5225, after touching its highest level since September 1 and recovering from a low of 79.7150 hit earlier. However, the rupee's gains were not as significant as broader markets.