Expectations of further economic reforms, along with short covering lifted the key indices of the Indian equity markets -- the S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- for the eighth straight session on Monday.According to market observers, healthy buying was witnessed in banking, consumer durables and capital goods stocks. However, negative global indices and volatility ahead of derivatives expiry capped gains.The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained just 9.85 points or 0.09 per cent at 10,399.55 points.Similarly, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 33,640.51 points, closed at 33,724.44 points -- up by only 45.20 points or 0.13 per cent -- from its previous close.The Sensex touched a high of 33,745.17 points and a low of 33,540.46 during the intra-day trade.The BSE market breadth was tilted towards bulls -- 1,548 advances and 1,148 declines."Markets ended with marginal gains on Monday after a negative opening... A sharp rebound from the lows in the afternoon session helped the Nifty to close in positive territory," Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS. "It was the eighth consecutive session of gains for the Nifty. Broad market indices like the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended with bigger gains, thereby outperforming the main indices."
According to Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, domestic indices shrugged off negativity among Asian peers on the back of expectations for further reform measures."Amendments in the Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code may put the banking sector again in prime focus again, but it was short covering ahead of the F&O expiry that was giving muscle to the late rise," James said.On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 20 paise to close at 64.50-51 against the US dollar from its previous close at 64.70.In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 424.77 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 69.40 crore.Sector-wise, the S&P BSE banking index surged by 137.98 points, followed by consumer durables index by 112.95 points and capital goods index by 85.61 points.On the other hand, the S&P BSE metal index fell by 92.43 points, IT index by 24.81 points and oil and gas index by 20.80 points.Major Sensex gainers on Monday were: NTPC, up 3.13 per cent at Rs 186.05; Axis Bank, up 2.73 per cent at Rs 559.65; ONGC, up 1.41 per cent at Rs 183.45; State Bank of India, up 0.90 per cent at Rs 335.25; and Wipro, up 0.77 per cent at Rs 294.80.Major Sensex losers were: Infosys, down 1.23 per cent at Rs 997.50; Adani Ports, down 1.14 per cent at Rs 400.35; Tata Motors, down 0.89 per cent at Rs 421.15; Tata Steel, down 0.83 per cent at Rs 701.85; and Tata Motors (DVR), down 0.69 per cent at Rs 239.05.