Sensex soars over 400 pts to scale fresh lifetime peak; Nifty crosses 16,800

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 400 points in early trade on Monday, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC and Bajaj Finance amid positive cues from global markets.

After touching a lifetime high of 56,527.81 in the opening session, the 30-share index was trading 376.65 points or 0.67 percent higher at 56,501.37. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 100.95 points or 0.60 percent to 16,806.15.

Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 percent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, M&M, Maruti, L&T, Reliance Industries and HDFC.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech were the laggards.

In the previous session, the BSE index settled 175.62 points or 0.31 percent higher at 56,124.72, and Nifty gained 68.30 points or 0.41 percent to finish at a record 16,705.20

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 778.75 crore on Friday, as per provisional exchange data.

Domestic equities look to be good as of now, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

“No mention about actual time frame for reversal of USD 120 billion monthly asset purchase programme by US Fed chief Jerome Powell and indications of no interest rate hike in the medium term essentially show that taper tantrum is still not in the sight in the near term, which augurs well for global equities,” he noted.

US equities were upbeat last week with all three key indices in the US recording weekly gains to the tune of 1-2.8 percent, Modi added.

In Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.36 percent to USD 72.96 per barrel.