Rising for the seventh straight session, the BSE Sensex was trading 381 points or 0.62 per cent higher at 61,687.31 in the first eight minutes of trading. The index hit a record high of 61,863.09 during the session. The NSE Nifty50 was trading at 18,483.25, up 144.70 points or 0.79 per cent. It hit an all-time high of 18,521.10 intraday. Midcap and smallcap indices gained up to 1 per cent.
Among Sensex stocks, Tata Steel added 2.30 per cent to Rs 1,405.20. Infosys, Titan Company and IndusInd Bank gained up to 1.8 per cent. Bharti Airtel, SBI, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Nestle India and Maruti Suzuki remained some other index stocks rising over 1 per cent each.
Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s Labs, HDFC and TechM remained the only five losers on Sensex, falling up to 0.6 per cent.
PNB Housing declined 5 per cent to Rs 607.10 on BSE after the NBFC board decided not to proceed with the proposed preferential issue of Rs 4,000 crore at Rs 390 per share to Carlyle group, General Atlantic, SSG Group and other investors. A few brokerages have cut its ratings to ‘sell’ and reduced price targets significantly owing to uncertainty regarding lack of growth capital, weak balance sheet and elevated non-performing assets.
All eyes were on UltraTech Cement, L&T Infotech, Tata Coffee, Route Mobile, Alok Industries, Hatsun Agro Products and Hathway Bhawani Cabletel are among companies which will report their September quarter results later in the day.
“The market will keep a close look on the oil prices as rising crude prices is a risk for India that may hit the industrial activity and economic recovery. On the technical front, last week’s up move was a consolidation breakout and we believe the market may continue this bull run. The immediate support and resistance for Nifty50 are placed at 18,200 and 18,500 respectively,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS at Hem Securities.
Oil prices hit new multi-year peaks, continuing their recent surge amid a global energy shortage, with US crude at a fresh seven-year high and Brent at a three-year high.
Brent crude oil futures rose 87 cents, or 1 per cent, to $85.73 a barrel, the highest price since October 2018. US WTI crude futures climbed $1.12, or 1.4 per cent, to $83.40 a barrel, highest since October 2014.
Besides, data released on Monday showed China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.9 per cent in July-September, the weakest pace since the third quarter of 2020 and slowing from 7.9 per cent in the second quarter. Markets across mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan were trading in the red. South Korean benchmark Kospi was trading flat.
