Nifty rises to 10-month high; Tata Motors gains

REUTERS - The Nifty rose to a 10-month high on Monday as Tata Motors rallied after posting stellar June auto sales numbers, with broader sentiment underpinned by a continued recovery in global markets from Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union.

Global markets have gained on expectations central banks around the world, including the European Central Bank, would cut interest rates further and engage in more stimulus to support weak economies after the Brexit vote.

In India, sentiment has also been boosted by recent government reforms, including eased foreign direct investment rules and a new mineral exploration policy that would allow private companies to carry out standalone exploration for the first time.

Investors are now awaiting the approval of the goods services tax (GST) bill in the upcoming session of parliament that starts on July 18.

"Globally, easy monetary policy stance will have to be maintained by the central banks after Brexit," said Pankaj Pandey, head of research at ICICI Securities.

"Meanwhile domestically, the monsoon progress has been quite well and the 7th pay recommendations have been accepted. Also, there is a prospect of GST getting passed. So, easing of global pressures and certain positive domestic factors have led to this whole improvement."

The broader NSE index was up 0.69 percent at 8,385.45 as of 0715 GMT, after rising nearly 3 percent in the past five sessions. It hit its highest level since Aug. 20, 2015 earlier in the session.

The Sensex was 0.73 percent higher at 27,341.85, after rising as much as 0.89 percent earlier in the session to its highest since Oct. 26, 2015.

Among the gainers, shares of Tata Motors jumped 3.5 percent after the company reported an 8 percent jump in its total passenger and commercial vehicle sales for June.

Adani Port and Special Economic Zone rose 3.3 percent after the company's board on Saturday approved exploring the acquisition of business support services provider TM Harbour Services.

However, Bajaj Auto declined 0.42 percent after the two-wheeler maker posted a 4 percent drop in June sales.

(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)