Sensex Surges 482 Points, Nifty Reclaims 11,300 On Foreign Fund Buying

Domestic stock markets surged for second day in a row along with the rupee buoyed by strong inflows by foreign institutional investors in equity markets. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.30 per cent or 481.56 points to close at 37,535.66, and the NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 1.19 per cent or 133.15 points to 11,301.20. Both the benchmark indexes registered their highest level in nearly six months as foreign investors continue to pump in money in domestic equities since they turned net sellers in January.

The foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 3,810.60 crore in Monday's session, according to provisional data on the National Stock Exchange.

Foreign investors have been net buyers of Indian equities in March as they have invested Rs 6,747 crore in equity markets so far this month, according to data compiled by National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). In February, the foreign investors turned net buyers of equities and bought shares worth Rs 17,219.62 crore after they sold shares worth Rs 4,262 crore in January, NSDL data showed.

Eighteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Bankex Index's 1.72 per cent gain. Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Telecom, Industrials, Healthcare, Finance and Energy Indexes also closed higher between 1 and 2 per cent each.

The buying interest was largely seen in heavyweights as the mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.65 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index advanced 1.07 per cent.

Heavyweights like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan, Reliance Industries registered their 52-week's highest level in today's trade.

From the Nifty 50 basket of shares, Bharti Airtel was the top gainer, the stock surged 5 per cent for second straight day to close at Rs 350.50. IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma and Adani Ports also closed higher between 2 and 4 per cent each. On the flipside, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Infratel, Hindustan Petroleum, JSW Steel and ONGC were among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,633 shares ended higher while 1,084 closed lower on the BSE.