India Equities Post Best Run in Seven Months on Lockdown Exit

(Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks posted their longest winning streak since November amid optimism that easing of the nationwide lockdown will reboot economic growth.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 Index each rose 1.6% at the close in Mumbai. Both gauges rose a fifth consecutive session, the longest stretch of gains since Nov. 4.

India's phased loosening of restrictions will see malls, restaurants and places of worship reopening as of June 8 after the world's toughest stay-at-home curbs to stem the Covid-19 pandemic muted economic growth.

“The gradual easing of the lockdown has boosted sentiment,” Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking Ltd., wrote in a note Monday. “The recent surge indicates markets are focusing more on the optimistic side and anticipating a favorable scenario.”

Still, Moody's Investors Service on Monday reduced the country's sovereign rating by a notch to the lowest investment grade, which may undermine India's efforts to attract foreign capital into its debt market to fund a ballooning fiscal gap and avoid the first economic contraction in more than four decades.

READ: India's Credit Rating Downgrade Puts It One Step Away From Junk

India's rupee strengthened 0.3% to 75.3587 versus the U.S. dollar, while the yield on India's 10-year benchmark bond fell one basis point to 5.76%

The Numbers

Eighteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by measures of real estate and bank stocks.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. was among the top gainers on the Sensex after the lender's billionaire founder Uday Kotak sought to raise as much as 69.4 billion rupees ($919 million) in a share sale by disposing of some of his stake.
Shares in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and ITC Ltd. declined.