Sensex begins new fiscal on a high, scales 39,000 mark intra-day

Mumbai: Indian equity benchmark Sensex started off the new fiscal on a bullish note and hit an all-time high of 39,115 on Monday, but pared significant gains towards the fag-end of the session and closed higher with nearly 199 points.

The rally was driven by hopes of an RBI rate cut and positive global sentiment following robust Chinese manufacturing activity and progress in US-China trade talks. It opened at 38,858.88 and swung nearly 307 points during the day, touching a record high of 39,115.57 and low of 38,808.74. It finally settled at 38,871.87, showing a rise of 198.96 points, or 0.51 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty started positively at 11,665.20 and touched a high of 11,738.10 and low of 11,644.75 during the day. The index finally closed at 11,655.60, rising 31.70 points, or 0.27 per cent over its previous close. The Sensex gains were led by metal, auto, energy and infra sector stocks. The rally was driven by Tata Motors, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Larsen and Toubro and HCL Tech. The scrips of these firms rose as much as 7.37 per cent.

Other prominent gainers were Infosys, TCS, SBI, ITC, Yes Bank, Kotak Bank, Hero Moto, Coal India. Bucking the overall trend, shares of IndusInd Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, HDFC, ONGC, HUL, BajajFinance and HDFC Bank declined.

Sectorally, metal emerged as the top performing BSE index, surging over 2 per cent. Other top sectoral gainers on the BSE were IT, teck, industrials, energy, telecom and auto. On the other hand, realty and consumer durables indices saw a decline.

Of the 19 sectoral indices, 12 ended in the green and 7 in the red. The RBI will unveil on Thursday its first bi-monthly monetary policy decision of this new fiscal.