The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday extended their gains for the second straight day on sustained buying in IT and Metal stocks. The investor sentiment turned positive globally after the US jobs data cemented hopes of a likely pause in rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve later this month. However, the domestic indices were trading flat in the morning hours amid volatility. After initial hiccups, the S&P BSE Sensex finally ended 241 points higher at 65,628. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty closed at 19,529, up 94 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Wipro, HCL Technologies, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel were the major gainers, up around 4 per cent each. On the downside, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle emerged losers.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap jumped 1 per cent, while the Smallcap added 0.8 per cent.
The market breadth too was fairly positive, with more than 2,300 shares advancing as against 1,440-odd declining stocks on the BSE.
Sectorally, all the indices closed in the green, with power, metal, auto, realty, oil & gas, and PSU Bank rose between 1 and 2.8 per cent.
In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex surged 556 points to close at 65,387, while the Nifty50, ended at 19,435, up 182 points.
"Global Stocks were higher on Monday following a report that signalled the US jobs market, while still healthy, shows some signs of cooling, raising hopes for an easing of interest rate hikes. Announcement of fresh stimulus measures from China - cutting down-payment requirements for first and second-time home buyers and lowered rates on existing mortgages also helped sentiments," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended with gains. European markets were trading in the green in early deals. US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Friday. American markets are shut on Monday due to the Labour Day holiday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.09 per cent to $88.64 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 487.94 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 11 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by a surge in crude oil prices and strength of the American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.71 against the US dollar and moved in a range of 82.67 to 82.77 in the day trade.
The rupee finally settled at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar, down 11 paise from its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 82.62 against the dollar.