Stock markets rally for 3rd day, Sensex climbs 230 pts

Mumbai: Stock markets closed with gains on Tuesday, extending the winning run to the third day on the trot after buying in HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 229.84 points or 0.32 per cent to settle at 71,336.80. During the day, it jumped 364.33 points or 0.51 per cent to 71,471.29. Index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries contributed around 120 points to the rally.

The broader Nifty advanced 91.95 points or 0.43 per cent to 21,441.35 with 41 of its constituents ending in the green and nine closing with losses.

In the three sessions to Tuesday, Nifty gained 291 points or 1.37 per cent while Sensex rose by 1.17 per cent or 830 points.

Power, utilities, banking, oil and gas and commodities shares attracted buying while IT and teck shares succumbed to selling.

Among the Sensex firms, NTPC rose the most by 2.44 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra advanced by 1.65 per cent, Wipro by 1.59 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank by 1.35 per cent, Tata Steel by 1.27 per cent, and Asian Paints by 1.24 per cent. Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Titan, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank also advanced.

Bajaj Finance fell the most by 1.81 per cent, Bajaj Finserv by 1.42 per cent, and Tata Consultancy Services by 0.8 per cent. Tata Motors and HCL Technologies were also among the losers. Infosys, which on Saturday announced that a global company has decided to terminate a multi-year contract worth $1.5 billion with it, declined by 1.12 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 0.72 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.48 per cent.

Among the indices, utilities rallied 1.56 per cent, oil & gas climbed 1.45 per cent, commodities jumped 1.36 per cent, energy (1.28 per cent), power (1.22 per cent), healthcare (1.13 per cent), metal (0.93 per cent) and auto (0.91 per cent). IT and tech were the laggards.

The rupee slipped 3 paise to settle at 83.19 against the US dollar on Tuesday amid a strong American currency and outflow of foreign funds.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.03 per cent to $79.09 a barrel.