Metal shares witnessed buying interest after China eased Covid-related restrictions. China is the world's largest consumer of metals and big market for Indian metal manufacturers
The Indian equity benchmarks advanced for second straight session on Tuesday led by gains in Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening and turned rangebound later in the day to rebound in last hour of trade. The Sensex rose as much as 420 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 18,149.25.
The Sensex ended 361 points higher at 60,927 and Nifty 50 index advanced 118 points to close at 18,132.
"Except FMCG, all sectors ended in green. Metals rallied more than 4 per cent on hopes of revival in demand post relaxation of Covid restrictions by China. Even crude oil prices surged to 1-month high led by improving demand expectation in China and freezing weather across the US which prompted refinery closures. Given absence of any major global events due to year-end holidays and stable economic outlook for India, we expect the market momentum to remain positive in the near term," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Buying was visible across sectors as all the 15 sector gauges, barring the index of FMCG shares, ended higher led by Nifty Metal index's over 4 per cent gain. Metal shares witnessed buying interest after China eased Covid-related restrictions. China is the world's largest consumer of metals and big market for Indian metal manufacturers.
Nifty Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, Private Bank, Media, IT, Auto and Bank indexes also rose between 0.5-1 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1.2 per cent.
Hindalco was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6 per cent to close at 470. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, ONGC, Asian Paints, Wipro, Divi's Labs, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports also rose between 1-6 per cent.
On the flipside, Hindustan Unilever, Apollo Hospitals, Netsle India, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, NTPC and Britannia were among the notable losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,539 shares ended higher while 971 closed lower on the BSE.