Sensex rises 419 pts to close above 81k level on gains in metal, auto shares

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by nearly 419 points to close above the 81,000 level while Nifty jumped 157 points on Monday following gains in metal, commodities and auto shares amid a firm trend in global markets.

The 30-share Sensex gained 418.81 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 81,018.72. During the day, it climbed 493.28 points or 0.61 per cent to hit an intraday high of 81,093.19.

The 50-share NSE Nifty jumped by 157.40 points or 0.64 per cent to close at 24,722.75. In the intraday session, it rose 169.3 points or 0.6 per cent to hit a high of 24,734.65 Among Sensex firms, Tata Steel, BEL, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Larsen & Toubro were the major gainers.

However, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

"The domestic equity market edged higher, supported by strong performance in the metal and auto sectors. A weakening US Dollar, along with robust monthly auto sales and encouraging quarterly results from leading automakers, helped renew investor interest in these sectors.

"The Q1 earnings summary indicates that consumption-driven companies are benefiting from a rebound in volume demand. Meanwhile, rising unemployment and slower job creation in the US have reinforced expectations of a potential Fed rate cut. However, there still remains room for caution due to high US tariffs," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index closed in the positive territory while Japan's Nikkei 225 index in the red territory.

Markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets ended in negative territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.15 per cent to $68.87 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,366.40 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 585.67 points to settle at 80,599.91, and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 203 points to close at 24,565.35.