The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rebounded 1.8% on Monday, lifted by an almost 7% surge in heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd. that lifted the diversified company’s stock to an all-time high.
The Sensex gained 1,240.90 points, or 1.76%, to 71,941.57 led by Reliance and other blue chips including HDFC Bank, which rose 1.4%.
RIL climbed 6.86% to a record ₹2,896.15 amid talk of a possible demerger of units. “There was a rumour of demerger of different businesses of Reliance (Jio and Reliance Retail) and that jacked up the prices,” said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent stock market analyst.
Other gainers included Tata Motors (3.62%), Power Grid (3.4%), L&T (3.25%), Kotak Bank (3.18%) and NTPC (3.11%). The NSE Nifty-50 index too surged 385 points, or 1.80%, to 21,737.60.
“Indian equity markets rose sharply on the back of great expectations from the upcoming Budget and strong cues from other Asian markets,” said Manish Jain, Head – Fund Management, Centrum, “ Private sector banks in particular have driven the market rally as Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) continue value picking at current levels,” he added.
“We believe that the volatility will continue in the coming days as the results season unfolds. The market will also be keenly looking at the upcoming Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) meet to see any change in body language, inflation expectations and rate cut cues,” Mr. Jain added.
