Sensex gains more than 400 points; L&T, NMDC rise

Rueters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex gained 1.66 percent while the broader Nifty rose 1.64 percent supported by Larsen & Toubro, which surged after reporting forecast-beating results on Friday.

Overseas investors bought Indian shares worth 29.77 billion rupees ($503.8 million) on Friday, which includes about $364 million from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increasing its stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank , provisional exchange data shows.

The net purchases mark their first after selling in five out of six sessions.

But some caution is expected to prevail ahead of the RBI's policy review on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold.

 

Larsen & Toubro gained 6.24 percent after the engineering company's fourth-quarter profit beat analyst forecasts.

NMDC gained 4.2 percent after the miner said on Friday its January-March profit rose by 34 percent to 19.62 billion rupees ($332 million).

HDFC Bank gained 2.99 percent, while Hindustan Unilever fell 2.05 percent as changes by MSCI to its global indices became effective after the close of markets on Friday.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)