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Markets buck weak global trend

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks shrugged off bearish global cues to end with smart gains on Tuesday, propelled by heavy buying in Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Investor sentiment got a leg up after MSCI said it would rejig its global indices to reflect changes in the country's foreign ownership limits for stocks, which is expected to spur FII inflows into Indian equities, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 376.60 points or 0.94 per cent to finish at 40,522.10.

The broader NSE Nifty climbed 121.65 points or 1.03 per cent to 11,889.40.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was the star performer in the Sensex pack, soaring 12.17 per cent, after the lender reported a 22 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,947 crore for the July-September quarter.

Without denying speculations about a merger with smaller rival IndusInd Bank, the private sector lender also said the objectives of its recent Rs 7,000-crore capital raising exercise included acquisitions but added that it will be using the money judiciously.

Other gainers included Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, L&T, Axis Bank and Bajaj Auto.

On the other hand, TCS, ONGC, Infosys, HDFC and SBI were among the main laggards, shedding up to 2.09 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE bankex, power, capital goods, finance, healthcare and utilities indices rallied as much as 3.53 per cent, while IT, teck, realty, metal and telecom closed with losses.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices jumped up to 1.65 per cent.

Asian markets were largely in the negative territory, tracking a sharp drop on Wall Street overnight as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the US elections. Bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended on a negative note, while Shanghai closed higher.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading in the red in early deals amid fresh restrictions imposed on economic activities in countries like Spain and Italy.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.76 per cent higher at $41.12 per barrel. In the forex market, the rupee settled 13 paise higher at 73.71 against the US dollar.

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