Sensex Surges 1,078 Points: FIIs Drive 6-Day Rally

Mumbai, Mar 24 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty surged more than 1 per cent on Monday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in banking and oil & gas shares.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,078.87 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at over six-week high of 77,984.38. During the day, it zoomed 1,201.72 points or 1.56 per cent to 78,107.23.

The NSE Nifty surged by 307.95 points or 1.32 per cent to 23,658.35. Intra-day, the benchmark zoomed 358.35 points or 1.53 per cent to 23,708.75.

A positive trend in the US and European markets powered the rally in domestic equities, experts said.

From the Sensex pack, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance were the biggest gainers.

Titan, IndusInd Bank, Zomato, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Nestle and Infosys were the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 7,470.36 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

"Short covering ahead of monthly F&O expiry later this week fuelled the rally as the Sensex breached the psychological 78k mark intra-day on across-the-board buying.

"Renewed optimism by foreign investors coupled with strong US and European market cues further bolstered the sentiment," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled higher while Seoul and Tokyo ended lower. European markets were trading in positive territory. US markets ended in green on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude went up 0.07 per cent to USD 72.21 a barrel.

In the six-day rally to Monday, Sensex has zoomed more than 4,100 points or 5 per cent as FII selling eased. Broader Nifty has climbed 1,260 points or 5.5 per cent since March 17.