Value buying, coupled with clarity on the passage of some key economic legislation on the remaining three days of parliament's winter session, saw Indian equity markets rise on Monday and led a barometer index to gain 212 points during the late-afternoon trade session.
Initially, both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets opened on a weak note in sync with their Asian peers and last Friday's slump.
However, both the key indices soon rose on the back of value buying.
In addition, clarity on the status of key economic legislations' passage during the winter session increased risk-taking appetite of investors.
Besides, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comments last week that the GST (Goods and Services Tax) bill might get delayed due to parliament's logjam has added clarity on the legislation's status.
Nevertheless, investors have now hedged their hopes on government getting three other critical bills passed through the parliament including bankruptcy code, legislations on setting up of commercial courts and amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) traded higher by 212 points during the late-afternoon session.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose. It gained 65.15 points or 0.84 percent up at 7,827.10 points.
The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,425.32 points, was trading at 25,731.44 points (at 2.45 p.m.) -- up 212.22 points or 0.83 percent from the previous day's close at 25,519.22 points.
The Sensex so far has touched a high of 25,751.36 points and a low of 25,413.54 points during the intra-day trade.
The Sensex had closed the previous session which ended on December 18, down 284.56 points or 1.10 percent, while the Nifty was lower by 82.40 points or 1.50 percent.
"We are seeing a relief rally taking place after Friday's profit bookings. The rally is being supported by value buying and clarity on the passage status of some major economic legislations," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.
Nitasha Shankar, vice president for research with YES Securities said that volumes continue to remain tepid due to lack of participation, suggesting a range bound movement for markets.
"Metal, bank, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and auto stocks are outperforming, while broader markets are up in line with the headline indices. Pharma index is trading in the red led by a sharp fall in SunPharma," Shankar told IANS.
"Market breadth is skewed in favour of the bulls."
Sector-wise, healthy buying was witnessed in banking, automobile, metal, information technology (IT) and FMCG stocks.
The S&P BSE banking index augmented by 275.50 points, automobile index gained by 139.02 points, metal index increased by 135.64 points, FMCG index rose by 100.81 points and IT index was higher by 97.54 points.
On the other hand, consumer durables and healthcare scrip were trading in the red.
The S&P BSE consumer durables index receded by 96 points and healthcare index declined by 76.05 points.
