Indian shares joined a global rally on Monday, with stronger than expected U.S. payroll data and some positive news from Europe underpinning sentiment.
Asian markets are rising across the board, with key benchmark indexes in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea climbing about 2 percent each, after data showed U.S. employers hired the most workers in five months in July and the troika of Greece's main creditors said the country is making progress on meeting bailout terms.
Closer home, the benchmark BSE Sensex is currently trading near the day's high at 17,432, up 234 points or 1.36 percent from its previous close, while the broader Nifty index is up 72 points or 1.39 percent at 5,288. Oil/gas, metal, capital goods and banking stocks are among the prominent gainers.
Reliance Industries is climbing 4.6 percent after data showed the company has streamlined its promoter holding by bringing down the total number of promoter group entities to 55. Meanwhile, the energy giant has agreed to share its KG-D6 accounts with CAG under the terms of the production sharing contract, the Economic Times says.
Financial Technologies is moving up 1.6 percent and MCX is up over 2 percent after MCX Stock Exchange received SEBI and RBI approvals to launch currency options.
Telecom stocks are gaining ground after a ministerial panel on 2G spectrum finally fixed a reserve price at Rs 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of airwaves, 22 percent lower than the TRAI recommendations. Bharti Airtel is gaining 0.7 percent, Idea Cellular is adding half a percent and Reliance Communication is moving up 1.7 percent.
Realtor DLF is up 1.4 percent and steel maker SAIL is gaining 2.5 percent ahead of their quarterly results today.
Metal stocks are rallying as copper futures jumped by the most in three weeks on Friday amid the dollar slide after U.S. jobs data beat estimates. Jindal Steel, Sterlite, Tata Steel and JSW Steel are up 2-3 percent.
Divis Laboratories is up 1.4 percent on reporting a 63 percent rise in first-quarter net profit. UCO Bank and GSFC are gaining about 1.5 percent each on solid Q1 results.
SKS Microfinance is climbing 12.4 percent as the company narrowed its Q1 loss. Tulip Telecom is adding a percent on news it will launch a $100 million FCCB issue tomorrow.
State-run oil retailers are subdued on concerns that their under-recoveries may increase after oil prices jumped nearly 5 percent on Friday. BPCL, HPCL and IOC are down between half a percent and one percent, while explorer ONGC is edging down marginally. India Cements is moving down half a percent on going ex-dividend.
Indian shares snapped a three-week losing streak last week, with renewed FII buying underpinning sentiment. The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 2.1 percent, while the 50-share broader Nifty index gained 2.3 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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