Sensex up 106 points to 1-month high on GDP, manufacturing; Rupee ends 13 paise higher at 62.31 against dollar

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex rose 106 points on Monday to the highest level in a month after data showed economic growth in the second quarter was better than expected and manufacturing activity expanded last month.

The gains were led by healthcare, capital goods, banking and metal sector stocks. ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and Larsen & Toubro helped to lift the index even as ONGC and Hindustan Unilever dragged it lower.

Jindal Steel, Wipro and BHEL were among the top gainers. The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex resumed on a lower note and hovered in a range of 20,770.51 to 20,941 before ending at 20,898.01, up 106.08 points or 0.51 per cent.

It was the third day of gains for the index, which is at the highest level since the November 5 close.

"GDP numbers, which were better than estimates, and improvement in manufacturing data for November boosted market sentiment," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange surged 41.75 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 6,217.85.

The SX40 on the MCX Stock Exchange ended at 12,375.76, up 31.27 points.

The economy grew 4.8 per cent in the three months ended September 30 as agriculture and factory output improved, the government said after market hours on Friday.

Growth was 4.4 per cent in the previous quarter. India's manufacturing sector activity expanded in November for the first time since July, driven by rising new domestic orders, an HSBC survey said on Monday.

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing industry climbed from 49.6 in October to 51.3 in November. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 745.16 crore last Friday, according to provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Next: Rupee ends 13 paise higher at 62.31 against dollar

Rupee ends 13 paise higher at 62.31 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee gave up mid-session gains to close 13 paise higher at 62.31 against the US currency on Monday after the RBI said the entire dollar demand from oil marketing companies was back in the market.

Dollar sales by banks and exporters and foreign capital inflows into the equity market supported the rupee.

The rupee resumed higher at 62.35 per dollar from the previous close of 62.44 on the interbank foreign exchange market and firmed up to 61.96, a two-week high.

The currency failed to maintain the gains on dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, and ended at 62.31 per dollar, a rise of 0.20 per cent.

"Rupee started its weak trend as RBI announced that the oil marketing companies have started accessing the forex market for their dollar demand. This return of OMCs to the market is likely to put pressure on the rupee," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of India Forex Advisors.

The Reserve Bank of India said state-run oil refiners returned to the foreign exchange market last week to meet all their dollar requirements.

A swap window, which had been made available to the refiners since August end, will open on rare days, when there is a pronounced spurt in dollar demand, the central bank said.

The RBI also said USD 34 billion was mobilised from special concessional dollar swap windows opened in September for deposits by non-resident Indians and overseas foreign currency borrowings by banks.

The swap windows were closed on November 30. India's current account deficit narrowed to USD 5.2 billion, or 1.2 per cent of GDP, in the July-September quarter after a turnaround in exports and a decline in gold imports, the RBI said after the market closed.

The gap between the outflow and inflow of foreign exchange was USD 21 billion, or 5 per cent of GDP, in the second quarter of the previous financial year.