Sensex gains 312 points; energy, auto, banking stocks rally

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex on Tuesday rallied about 312 points, driven by energy, auto and banking stocks as monsoon's swift progress revived investor sentiment.

After trading in the red zone for a better part of the session, the BSE gauge pared losses and soared over 350 points, before settling 311.98 points, or 0.80 per cent, higher at 39,434.94. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,490.64 and a low of 38,946.04.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 96.80 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 11,796.45. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,814.40 and a low of 11,651.

RIL was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.63 per cent, followed by NTPC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, HDFC twins, Bharti Airtel, M&M, ICICI Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance -- gaining up to 2.51 per cent.

While, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, TechM, HUL, TCS, L&T, Hero MotoCorp and HCL Tech fell up to 1.70 per cent.

Markets pared initial losses following India Meteorological Department's (IMD) statement that India's annual monsoon rains have covered nearly half of the country, and conditions are favourable for further advancement into the central and western parts this week, said Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research (Investment Services) - AVP Equity Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.

"Positive sentiment further strengthened in the market in afternoon session on back of buying in banking, metals and realty stocks," he added.

Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note.

Equity markets in Europe were also trading in the red in early deals.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee was trading flat at 69.36 against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.36 per cent to USD 63.95 per barrel.