The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday closed the first day of the financial year on a positive note after a robust show, mostly taking cues from Asian stocks and foreign fund inflows. The domestic indices hit an all-time highs during intra-day trade. The BSE Sensex jumped 363 points to 74,014. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 22,462, up 135 points.


On the 30-share Sensex platform, JSW Steel was the top gainer, up 4.81 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, UltraCemco, NTPC, L&T, HDFC Bank. On the down side, Titan, Nestle, Airtel, IndusInd Bank, TechM, ITC were among the losers.


In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index jumped 1.6 per cent, while the Smallcap jumped about 3 per cent.


Sectorwise, except auto, all other indices closed in the green. Metal, power, capital goods, healthcare and realty jumped between 1 per cent and 4 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas, information technology, and bank advanced 0.5 per cent each.


In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark jumped 655 points to settle at 73,651, while the NSE Nifty climbed 203 points to close at 22,327. Stock markets were closed on Friday on account of Good Friday.


"The Indian market boarded on a strong trajectory at the onset of the new financial year, with indications pointing towards a continuation of this favourable momentum, in the near term. This confidence is supported by a global rally in expectation of a Fed rate cut in June and a healthy domestic earnings growth forecast in Q4FY24," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.


In the Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai concluded the day with gains, while Tokyo experienced a dip. Thursday saw Wall Street closing with a blend of results. Hang Seng, Shanghai, and Kospi all saw increases of over 0.5 percent.


As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made equities purchases totaling Rs 188.31 crore on Thursday.


The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, saw a slight decrease of 0.10 percent, settling at $86.91 per barrel.


Meanwhile, the forex market remained shut on Monday for the annual account closing of banks


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