Sensex gains by 321 points as Nifty closes near record high, Tata Motors top winner

Equities continued to rally on the second day of new calendar year with benchmark indices closing 0.8 per cent higher due to global gains and stellar performance domestically by infrastructure majors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced a Rs 102 lakh crore infrastructure project pipeline for the next five years, a move that is likely to help the country nearly double GDP's size to five trillion dollars by 2025.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 321 points up at 41,627 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 100 points at 12,283.

Except for Nifty IT which wound up 0.03 per cent lower, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty metal shoring up by 2.68 per cent, bank by 1.04 per cent and realty by 0.92 per cent.

Among stocks, auto major Tata Motors gained by 5.1 per cent intraday to close at Rs 193.85 after global research firm Citi maintained a buy rating on the stock with a target of Rs 200. The firm has a positive stance on JLR recovery while domestic commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle volumes remained weak in December.

But the overall rally was led by infra-led stocks, especially metal majors. Tata Steel gained by 4.3 per cent, JSW Steel by 3.2 per cent, Vedanta by 3.1 per cent and Hindalco by 2.4 per cent.

Aditya Birla-led UltraTech Cement and Grasim added gains of 4.2 per cent and 3 per cent respectively while engineering major Larsen & Toubro edged higher by 2.6 per cent. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank ticked up by 3.2 per cent.

However, Eicher Motors fell by 2.3 per cent while Bajaj Auto, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Cipla and Tata Consultancy Services closed in the red.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were buoyed by Chinese markets after Beijing eased monetary policy to support slowing growth. Investors also cheered news that the United States and China will sign a trade pact soon after a year of volatile negotiations between the world's two largest economies.

In China, the Shanghai Composite index was 1.15 per cent higher but Seoul's Kospi began the year down by 1.02 per cent. Markets in Japan were closed for a national holiday.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that phase one of the trade deal with China will be signed on January 15 at the White House, though uncertainty surrounds details about the agreement.

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