Stock market updates: The domestic equity markets swung sharply on the upside in the afternoon deals on Monday after a tweet by the Prime Minister's Office said PM Narendra Modi will address the nation at 5 PM later in the day. Investors' confidence resonated in the markets as participants hoped the PM would throw a light on the state of the economy and may provide clarity on the vaccination drive.
That apart, Dalal Street was firmly in the grip of market bulls today as a little over 100,000 new Covid-19 infections across India in the past 24 hours, along with partial unlocking in key states like Maharashtra and Delhi, drove investors towards riskier assets.
Against this backdrop, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex hit the day's high of 52,379 while the Nifty50 touched record peak of 15,773. While the indices came off highs mildly, they still managed to end about 0.4 per cent higher. By close, the Sensex index was at 52,328.5 levels, up 228 points and the Nifty50 was at 15,751.6 levels, up 81 points.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index hit fresh record peak of 22,739 in intra-day trade but closed at 22,690 levels, up 0.8 per cent. The BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, hit record peak of 24,618 earlier today but ended at 24,609 levels, up 1.4 per cent.
Individually, shares of Bajaj Finance (BAF) ended 4.4 per cent to Rs 5,728 apiece on the BSE on Monday as the consumer financier voiced concerns over asset quality issues due to localised lockdowns following a second wave of Covid-19.
On the upside, shares of sugar companies were on a roll as Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries, Avadh Sugar & Energy, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Uttam Sugar Mills and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries rallied between 10 per cent and 19 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday on the back of heavy volumes. Shree Renuka Sugars, Dhampur Sugar Mills and Balarampur Chini Mills also gained in the range of 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
Sectorally, the Nifty IT, Media, and Private Bank indices ended the session as top gainers, up around 1 per cent each, while the Nifty Metal index was the top loser, down 0.5 per cent.
Global markets
World shares were range bound on Monday as markets digested Friday’s disappointing US jobs report and a global tax deal between the G7 group of countries, while also looking ahead to inflation data due this week.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.05 per cent, Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.3 per cent, while Taiwan stocks lost 0.4 per cent. Chinese blue chips were also off 0.1 per cent.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat in early deals.
(With inputs from Reuters)