Markets soar for 2nd day on stimulus hopes

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty surged as much as 1.6 per cent on Monday, lifted by intense buying in financial stocks on hopes of capital support to public sector banks and stimulus measures for the economy.

The BSE Sensex settled 592.97 points or 1.59 per cent higher at 37,981.63, while the NSE Nifty surged 177.30 points or 1.60 per cent to 11,227.55 -- the second straight session of rise for the indices. In the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rising around 8 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, ONGC, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and M&M. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Nestle ended in the red.

All sectoral indices ended with gains, with BSE power, bankex, auto, realty, utilities, finance and metal rallying up to 3.40 per cent. Broader midcap and smallcap indices surged outperformed the benchmark, rising up to 2.68 per cent.

"Key Indices ended high as bulls led the charge backed by financials and well supported by auto and pharma. Expectations of a stimulus coupled with capital support to state-run banks fuelled the rally in late afternoon trade," S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said.

According to traders, domestic equities also tracked strong buying sentiment in global equities ahead of the first US presidential debate. Global investors are eyeing the first US presidential debate, set for Tuesday, between US President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden. It could influence the course of US policies and is likely to affect share prices across the world, analysts said.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Shanghai was in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with strong gains in early deals.