Sensex gains more than 345 points; bank stocks zoom

After six consecutive sessions of gains, a benchmark index of the Indian equities, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), surged more than 345 points during the mid-afternoon trade session on Monday.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also made substantial gains during the session. It rose by 110.10 points or 1.34 percent at 8,335.05 points.

The Sensex which opened at 27,427.19 points, was trading at 27,661.82 points (at 1.00 p.m.), up 345.65 points or 1.27 percent from the previous day's close at 27,316.17 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,662.28 points and a low of 27,417.03 points in the intra-day trade so far.

According to Angel Broking, the Indian markets opened higher tracking the SGX Nifty and global cues.

"Indian shares extended gains for a sixth consecutive session (June 19), as a better-than-expected start to the monsoon and a nominal Rs.50 per quintal hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy spurred hopes that the Reserve Bank of India will cut rates for a fourth time this year," the firm said.

The barometer index had gained 890.87 points or 3.37 percent during the weekly trade ended June 19.

The gains have been attributed to the a six-day relief rally that started from June 12.

Market analysts elaborated that the buoyed investor sentiments were supported by a healthy monsoon, rise in crop prices, deferment of a US interest rate hike coupled with good macro-economic data and parleys to resolve the Greece debt crises.

One of the major reasons for the sustained buying is the fact that the US Federal Reserve decided not to raise interest rates in June.

With higher interest rates in the US, the FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) are expected to be led away from the emerging markets such as India.

During the intra-day trade on Monday, healthy buying took place in the banking, automobile, capital goods, consumer durables, metal, information technology (IT), healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and realty stocks.

The S&P BSE banking index rocketed by 597.86 points, followed by the automobile index which zoomed by 168.47 points, capital goods index rose by 127.63 points, consumer durables index jumped higher by 118.40 points and metal index was up by 104.74 points.

The S&P BSE IT index increased by 101.61 points, healthcare index edged-higher by 100.31 points,FMCG index gained by 71.26 points, realty index rose by 51.78 points.