Sensex Closes 350 Points Up, Nifty Climbs 0.5% As Clear Poll Mandates, Stable War Front Keeps Investors Calm

Domestic equity indices on Monday closed in the green as clear mandates in the four state assembly elections and a stable situation at the war front nudged investors to place bullish bets.

The benchmark Sensex closed at 77,269 with a gain of 0.46 percent, or 355 points, while Nifty climbed by 0.51 percent to close 121 points higher than Wednesday’s close.

Out of almost 3,432 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange, over 62 percent (2,140 stocks) ended higher than their previous close.

The rise in the benchmarks came after a loss of 0.7 percent in the indices during the previous session on Thursday.

However, today’s gains were able to recover only a part of the losses incurred on Thursday as the market could not maintain the gains of the early trade.

Sensex and Nifty had opened higher on Monday on the back of de-escalation hopes on the war front, positive political cues, and robust auto sales in April.

While the Sensex had opened 0.44 percent higher at 77,257 points, the Nifty had opened at 24,063, which was 0.27 percent higher than the previous close.

As the assembly poll results in four states indicated clear-cut winners, the market climbed on the back of political certainty.

However, as the situation cleared on the political front, the market turned to global factors for cues.

The offloading of shares worth Rs 8,047.86 crore by foreign institutional investors on Thursday dampened sentiment on Monday.

In response to the United States President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom”, a naval mission to free stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian military threatened that it would attack US forces if any attempt to approach or enter the waterway was made.

Iran’s warning has again diminished hopes of relief in terms of energy supply.

The rupee also came under pressure on Monday, declining by up to 11 paise to 94.95 against the dollar.

Out of the 19 sectoral indices, 14 ended in the green while the remaining 5 ended with marginal losses.

Nifty Realty was the biggest gainer among the sectoral indices, surging over 2.4 percent, followed by Nifty Midsmall Healthcare with a jump of 1.96 percent.

Nifty IT and Nifty Media were among the biggest sectoral losers.

Adani Ports was the biggest gainer in the Nifty 50 lot of stocks. It surged over 5 percent to hit a 52-week high after announcing robust business activity in the month of April.

Auto stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, and Eicher Motors remained in the top gainers’ list on the NSE on the back of strong sales numbers in April.

According to market observers, Monday’s positive trade does not guarantee a bullish trend in the short term. With the elections over, the government’s decision on fuel prices may have a bearing on the market, along with developments at the war front.