Sensex jumps 1,006 points; Nifty tops 24,300 level on buying in Reliance, foreign fund inflows

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex soared by 1,006 points to close above 80,000 level on Monday as a sharp rally in Reliance Industries and private banks, and foreign fund inflows helped stock markets cut short two days of fall amid India-Pakistan border tensions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,005.84 points or 1.27 per cent to settle at 80,218.37 with 23 of its constituents ending with gains and seven in the red. During the day, it surged 1,109.35 points or 1.40 per cent to 80,321.88.

The NSE Nifty rallied 289.15 points or 1.20 per cent to close at 24,328.50.

Reliance Industries surged by 5.27 per cent to emerge as the biggest gainer among Sensex stocks. The oil-to-retail behemoth reported a 2.4 per cent rise in March quarter net profit beating street estimates.

Mahindra & Mahindra spurted 2.29 per cent after the auto major announced a Rs 555-crore acquisition of SML Isuzu and said that the buyout was a strong strategic fit for the company that would put it in a strong position. SML Isuzu Ltd shares, on the other hand, tanked 10 per cent.

Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were also among the Sensex gainers.

HCL Tech, UltraTech Cement, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,952.33 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors have infused Rs 17,425 crore in the country's equity markets last week, supported by a combination of favourable global cues and strong domestic macroeconomic fundamentals.

This came following a net investment of Rs 8,500 crore in the preceding holiday-truncated week ended April 18.

"The domestic market recouped from the losses incurred during the last two days of the previous week, which stemmed from the border tensions.

"While sustained buying from FIIs and better results from RIL also boosted the investor sentiment. A weakening dollar and inflationary pressure in the US may attract FIIs into the domestic market," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 settled in the positive territory while Shanghai SSE Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.

European markets were trading higher. US markets ended with gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.19 per cent to $66.74 a barrel.

The BSE barometer Sensex tanked 588.90 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 79,212.53 on Friday. Falling for the second day, the Nifty tumbled 207.35 points or 0.86 per cent to 24,039.35.