BSE, NSE to remain close on Thursday and Friday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navmi, respectively.
Forecast of above normal monsoon and inflation falling below 5% boosted the benchmark BSE Sensex by 481.16 points on Wednesday to 25,626.75, its highest level in over three months, as auto and banking stocks rallied on hopes of better rural sales and another rate cut by the RBI.
With this, the barometer has erased all but 100 points from this year's losses, which had at one point plummeted to more than 3,000 points. On the day, bullish global cues sparked by strong macroeconomic data from China and surging oil prices after reports of a deal between Russian and Saudi Arabia to cap the production played a part.
Besides, persistent buying by retail investors lifted the small-cap index by 1.06% and mid-cap by 0.91%. For the holiday-shortened week, Sensex and Nifty logged a hefty rise of 952.91 points or 3.86% and 295.25 points or 3.76%, respectively, halting two straight weekly slide.
"It is raining gains in stocks market. Participants were upbeat after a host of factors namely, forecast of good rains, further easing of consumer price inflation and a rebound in industrial production," said Shreyash Devalkar Fund Manager Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
Market will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navmi, respectively. Meanwhile, In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF retained 7.5% expansion forecast for India in 2016 and 2017. The Sensex stayed in the positive zone throughout the session and ended higher by 481.16 points or 1.91% at 25,626.75 -- its highest closing since January 1.
Recapturing the 7,800-level, the broader NSE Nifty hit a high of 7,864.80 before settling at 7,850.45, up 141.50 points or 1.84%. In stock specific action, Wipro finished 2.89% up at Rs 584.60 after the company said its board would consider a proposal for buy-back of equity shares later this month.
Stocks of fertiliser, irrigation system and agri machinery manufacturers continued to hog the limelight for a second consecutive day, rising by up to 7%, on forecast of "above-normal" monsoon this year. From the auto pack, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 7.40 per cent and VST Tillers Tractors rose 3.14%. Overseas, Asia ended higher after a latest data showed stronger-than-expected growth in China's exports.
The Shanghai Composite settled 1.44% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 3.19%, while Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.84% after the yen weakened against the dollar. Europe was also higher with indices in France, Germany and the UK gaining by up to 2.53%.
Back home, 28 counters from the 30-share Sensex gained while laggards included Infosys and Adani Ports. Gainers were M&M (7.40%), ICICI Bank (5.40%), Bajaj Auto (4.95%), BHEL (4.88%), Maruti (4.42%), Tata Motors (3.40%), Hero MotoCorp (3.33%), Wipro (2.89%), HUL (2.85%), Tata Steel (2.61%), ITC (2.57%), HDFC (2.17%), SBI (2.16%), RIL (1.75%) and Cipla (1.74%).
Among sectoral indices, auto rose 3.59% followed by bankex (2.56%), finance (2.27%), metal (2.14%), FMCG (1.86%), realty (1.69%), power (1.37%), industrials (1.35%), energy (1.33%) and utilities (1.14%). The market breadth remained positive as 1,591 stocks ended higher, 1,091 closed lower, while 160 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to Rs 2,645.40 crore from Rs 2,466.46 crore yesterday.
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