Sensex soars 879 pts, Nifty tops 9,800 as India begins to 'unlock'

Equity benchmark Sensex surged 879 points on Monday, driven by gains in Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and TCS as investor optimism heightened after the government began the process of unlocking the economy.

Positive cues from global markets too buoyed investor sentiment here.

After skyrocketing 1,250 points during the day, the 30-share index settled 879.42 points or 2.57 per cent higher at 33,303.52.

Similarly, NSE Nifty surged 245.85 points or 2.57 per cent to finish at 9,826.15.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 11 per cent, followed by Titan, Tata Steel, SBI, M&M, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Nestle India and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.

According to Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi, Indian markets started the week on a positive note following upbeat Asian market peers and the sentimental positive news of 'Unlock-1' and hopes of economy gradually opening up took hold.

"The market further rallied in the afternoon session with much broad-based buying seen in both large and mid cap stocks tracked by respective indices," he added.

The home ministry on Saturday said 'Unlock-1' will be initiated in India from June 8 under which the nationwide lockdown effectuated on March 25 will be relaxed to a great extent, including opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places.

The number of coronavirus cases in India crossed 1.90 lakh and the death toll climbed to 5,394, as per the health ministry data.

Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 61.66 lakh and the deceased tally stood around 3.72 lakh.

Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled up to 3 per cent higher, and those in Europe opened with significant gains.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.21 per cent higher at USD 37.91 per barrel.

On the currency front, the rupee appreciated 8 paise to provisionally close at 75.54 against the US dollar.