Benchmarks log biggest one-day gains in 7 weeks

Mumbai: Equity gauges Sensex and Nifty registered their biggest single-session gains in about seven weeks on Monday as investor optimism returned amid a consistent drop in new COVID-19 cases in the country.

Investors' wealth on Monday jumped Rs 3,03,725.89 crore as equity markets rallied on increased buying.

The BSE benchmark Sensex zoomed 848.18 points or 1.74 per cent to end at 49,580.73; and the NSE barometer Nifty surged 245.35 points or 1.67 per cent to settle at 14,923.15 — the biggest one-day gains for both indices since March 30.

On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rallying over 7 per cent, followed by SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Maruti Suzuki and HUL were the laggards.

Of the Sensex constituents, 23 closed with gains and 7 suffered losses. Sectorally, BSE banking, finance, metal and auto indices rallied up to 3.98 per cent, while telecom and healthcare were in the red. Broader midcap and smallcap indices surged up to 1.63 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended on a positive note, while Tokyo and Seoul were in the red.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.06 per cent higher at $68.75 per barrel.