 "Sensex rallies 348 points to end at 1-week high; IIP, CPI eyed")
Benchmark indices ended near day’s high amid renewed buying interest in the second half of the trading session with Tata group shares and IT majors leading the gains.
Investors are keenly awaiting the announcement of the macroeconomic data - Feb IIP and March CPI due tomorrow and the fourth quarter earnings kick starting on Friday with IT giant Infosys.
Further, India Inc set to post best EBIDTA growth in six quarters. Earnings growth likely to accelerate to 12-15% in fiscal 2017, says CRISIL Research.
Read more from our special coverage on "MARKETS"
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 348 points to end at 25,022 and the Nifty50 gained 116 points to close at 7,671. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices surged between 0.6%-1%.
"There will be strong support at 50% retracement levels of the entire rise which comes to 7,300 Nifty50. Markets have entered into a short term corrective mode which will take some time to correct the entire post budget rally from 6,850 to 7,750. Traders should wait for entering into fresh long positions. Aggressive traders can go short keeping stops at previous week high. The undercurrent in the short term has turned weak, there is loss of momentum, indicating correction has set in," said Jimit Modi, CEO, Samco Securities.
Besides, the World Bank trimmed its 2016 and 2017 economic growth forecasts for developing East Asia and Pacific, and said the outlook was clouded by risks such as uncertainty over China's growth prospects, financial market volatility and further falls in commodity prices.
In the currency front, rupee strengthened by 10 paise to 66.37 against the dollar at Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid higher opening in the domestic equity market.
Meanwhile, market will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navami, respectively.
Among overseas markets, Asian stocks erased early losses and edged up on Monday as Chinese inflation data fanned optimism Beijing will continue with loose monetary policies, while Japanese shares slid as the dollar notched a fresh 17-month low against the yen.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added about 0.2%, after Wall Street ended with modest gains on Friday even as the S&P 500 still suffered its biggest weekly decline in two months.
Japan's Nikkei stock index was off its session lows but still ended down 0.4%. In addition to a stronger currency, data released early on Monday showed Japan's core machinery orders fell 9.2% in February from the previous month, in a sign that business investment remains subdued.
Back home, Bharti Airtel gained over 4% at Rs 349 after the company said it has entered into an agreement with Aircel to acquire its 2,300-MHz spectrum band in eight circles for Rs 3,500 crore. The acquisition will enable Bharti Airtel to become a pan-India 4G operator.
Tata Steel rose around 3% after it reported 13% growth in sales to 2.72 million tonnes in the quarter ended March 2016 compared to the same quarter last fiscal. Crude steel production for the March 2016 quarter was 5% higher at 2.56 million tonnes.
Tata Motors today reported a 11% rise in global sales at 1,18,750 units in March, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles. Tata Motors jumps around 4%.
ALSO READ: Tata Motors: Getting a JLR boost
Adani Ports surged around 5% on account of fresh buying at lower levels. The stock was the top loser last week, falling by almost 10%.
BHEL extended gains and ended over 4% higher as the company is likely to post net profit of around Rs 400 crore in January-March (Q4FY16) after reporting a net loss in previous two quarters.
Sun Pharma gained around 0.5% after the company received US Food and Drug Administration approval for an ophthalmic solution, used for preventing pain and treating inflammation in eye, after cataract surgery.
However, other pharma majors like Lupin, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Labs slipped between 1%-2%.
SMART MOVERS
Rupa & Company was locked in upper circuit of 20% at Rs 329 on the BSE after the company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary has acquired the exclusive license from French Connection to develop, manufacture, marketing and sale of the innerwear and related products with the Brand name 'FCUK' in India.
Kakatiya Cement Sugar & Industries was locked in upper circuit for the second straight day, up 10% at Rs 291, also its record high on the BSE.
Shares of breweries & distilleries companies were under pressure and fell by up to 18% on the bourses on concerns of liquor bans.
Among the individual stocks, Pioneer Distilleries and Globus Spirits were locked in lower circuit of 5% each at Rs 149 and Rs 63, respectively on the BSE, with no buyers seen on the counters. Empee Distilleries, GM Breweries, United Breweries and United Spirits slipped between 5%-17%.
Orchid Pharma gained over 10% after the company said it has received the inspection report from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Alathur facility.
Havells India moved higher by almost 5% on the BSE. The stock touched its record high of Rs 348.60.
With Reuters input
With Reuters input
