Sensex pulls off biggest gain in a month, climbs 322 pts

A softening of military posturing between the US and North Korea today came as music to the ears of investors, with the Sensex rallying 322 points, as domestic players pressed on with more buying.
Today's rally is the single-biggest gain in more than a month. This is also the second straight day when both markets closed in the green, supported by an across the board rally.
Risk appetite made a comeback and stayed on for the better part of the day, thanks to positive leads from Europe, before the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes and British unemployment data.

Consumer goods companies were on a roll on value-buying, recouping their recent losses sparked by worries over the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
But there was a dose of caution as both retail and wholesale inflation rose sharply in July.
The 30-share Sensex zoomed 321.86 points, or 1.02 per cent, to close at 31,770.89, its highest closing since August 9, when it had closed at 31,797.84. Intra-day, the gauge shuttled between 31,805.99 and 31,399.35.

The NSE 50-share Nifty, which again went past the 9,900- mark to touch a high of 9,903.95 intra-day, settled at 9,897.30, up 103.15 points, or 1.05 per cent.

Broader markets such as small-cap and mid-cap indices surged up to 1.31 per cent, outsmarting the benchmarks.
Stock exchanges were shut yesterday for Independence Day.
"GST rate revision potential has given the much needed diversion that market needed especially for FMCG stocks, while it also helped that global risk appetite was seen improving after North Korean impasse softened. RBI minutes will now give some insight on the panel's thinking on inflation expectation," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
The rally was fuelled by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) who net bought shares worth Rs 1,619.17 crore, provisional data showed. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,638.83 crore on Monday.

Asian indices did not give a clear trend as a few ended with losses.
Tata Motors was the big gainer from the Sensex pack, up 3.57 per cent. Cipla, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma too made merry.
FMCG was the star sector with a gain of 2.49 per cent followed by metal, auto, banking and healthcare. However, infrastructure and capital goods lost their way and slumped.