Sensex, Nifty end at fresh closing highs; Tata Steel top gainer

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap added over 1% to finish at record closing high

The benchmark indices settled at fresh record closing highs on Monday after investors reacted positively to macroeconomic data released with changes in new base-year series for wholesale price index (WPI) inflation and index of industrial production (IIP), while a sharp fall in retail inflation to 2.99% in April extended a debate on whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should cut interest rates.

Hopes for easing inflation got a further boost after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday monsoon rains had reached the country's Andaman and Nicobar islands ahead of the schedule.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled 134 points higher to hit its fresh closing high of at 30,322, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 9,445, up 44 points. Last time, both the indices had touched their record closing highs on May 11.  

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap added over 1% to finish at fresh closing high, while the S&P BSE Smallcap indices ended 0.8% higher.   

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, remained positive. On the BSE, 1,494 shares rose and 1,308 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

"Ease in April CPI inflation to 2.99% and strengthening rupee with the prospects of improving economic fundamentals led the market to continue its growth trajectory, while investors are also taking a bet on rate cut from RBI in its June policy. Investors continue to look for the Joker in the pack that makes small and midcap stocks outperform the broader market," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Sectors and stocks

Nifty Metal index (up 2.3%) was the leading sectoral gainer, led by gains in Welspun Corp (up 7%), Tata Steel (up 4%), Hindalco (up 4%) and SAIL (up 2%). 

Tata Steel was the best-performer on Sensex and Nifty and gained over 4% to end at Rs 456 on the BSE ahead of its March quarter earnings due tomorrow. 

Jindal Stainless rose as much as 6% to its highest in over nine years after the company announced its March quarter results on Friday.

Avanti Feeds ended in upper circuit of 20% at Rs 1,078, also its all-time high on BSE, after the company reported nearly three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 90 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2017 (Q4FY17), on the back of strong domestic sales. 

Thus far in the calendar year 2017, the stock zoomed 120% from Rs 491 as compared to 14% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Among the losers, Idea Cellular dipped 8% to Rs 84.65 in intra-day trade after the company reported its second straight quarterly loss of Rs 326 crore for the quarter ended March 2017 (Q4FY17). The stock settled at Rs 86, down 7% on the BSE.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals hit 52-week low of Rs 714, down 6%, extending its Friday’s 16% loss on BSE, after the company reported a lower than expected revenue growth in March quarter (Q4FY17).

Global markets

European markets hit record highs as a regional election win for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party and extended oil output cuts buoyed investors after a weekend of global security concerns.

The FTSE 100 was trading 0.3% higher at 7,456, the DAX gained 0.22% higher at 12,798. while the CAC 40 started the day flat at 5,407. 

Asian stocks edged up to a two-year high, shaking off threats from by a ransomware attack that locked some 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries at the weekend, a missile test by North Korea, and weak US data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% to its highest level since June 2015.

MSCI's emerging markets benchmark also advanced 0.3% to a two-year high.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2% on a stronger yen.

(With inputs from Reuters)