Bourses make strong start to the week as Sensex climbs 465 points

Mumbai: Equity indices made a strong start to the week on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty closing at near four-month highs, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins and Reliance Industries amid positive global market trends.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 465.14 points or 0.80 per cent to finish at 58,853.07 — its highest closing since April 11 this year.

The broader NSE Nifty gained 127.60 points or 0.73 per cent to end at 17,525.10.

Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack, climbing 3.13 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank and Reliance Industries.

In contrast, SBI was the top loser, dropping 1.95 per cent, after the country's biggest lender posted a 7 per cent decline in standalone net profit to Rs 6,068 crore for the June quarter.

UltraTech Cement, Nestle India, Wipro, PowerGrid and Sun Pharma were among the other major laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.31 per cent and the smallcap gained 0.28 per cent.

The rupee fell 39 paise to close at 79.63 against the US dollar on Monday.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 1,605.81 crore on Friday, as per exchange

data.