After ending the previous week on a low note due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan and some profit-booking, benchmark indices rebounded on Monday, driven by a rally in Reliance Industries (RIL) and banking stocks.
The Sensex soared 1,005.84 points, or 1.27%, to close at 80,218.37 and recouped losses of 1.13% made in the last two trading sessions. The Nifty rose 289.15 points, or 1.20%, to close at 24,328.50. The benchmark indices also emerged as the top performers in the Asian markets.
“Markets started the week on a strong note and gained over a percentage, driven by favourable cues. The absence of any major geopolitical developments between India and Pakistan over the weekend, along with stability in global markets, eased pressure and triggered an upbeat start,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP, research at Religare Broking.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said the sustained buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and robust results by Reliance Industries (RIL) boosted investor sentiment. He added that a weakening dollar and inflationary pressures in the US may attract FPIs into the domestic market.
Nair, however, advised investors to exercise caution in the near term as the market is yet to fully discount the potential impact of retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.
Both FPIs and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers for the second consecutive trading session. While FPIs purchased shares worth Rs 2,474.10 crore, DIIs chipped in with net purchases of Rs 2,817.64 crore, respectively, according to provisional data by the BSE.
Over the past nine consecutive sessions, FPIs have been net buyers, purchasing shares worth $4.2 billion (Rs 35,764 crore).
Shares of RIL rallied 5.27% — the best single-day gain in 10 months (since June 3, 2024) — hitting a six-month high of Rs 1,368.50 on strong earnings for the January-March quarter. RIL was the top gainer among Nifty shares, alone contributing nearly 400 points, or 40% of the Sensex’s 1,000-point gain. Its market capitalisation surged by Rs 92,629 crore to Rs 18.52 lakh crore.
Besides RIL, four major banks — ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, and HDFC Bank — also contributed around 335 points, accounting for roughly one-third of the Sensex’s gains.
Among broader indices, the BSE Midcap index outperformed the benchmarks with a 1.34% gain, while the BSE Smallcap index underperformed, rising only 0.39%. The market breadth was neutral, with 1,958 gainers against 2,038 losers on the BSE.
Investor wealth increased by Rs 4.53 lakh crore to Rs 426.12 lakh crore ($5 trillion), recovering more than half of Friday’s losses.
Barring IT, all other sectoral indices on the BSE and the NSE ended in the green. Energy, oil & gas, capital goods, auto, PSU banks, and healthcare were the top gainers, rising up to 3.02%.