Sensex zooms 364 points, Nifty tops 8,600 on BoE stimulus push

Mumbai: In sync with strong global stocks after the Bank of England announced a rate cut and fresh stimulus, the Sensex rallied 364 points to close above 28,000, helped by auto and oil and gas. For the week, both indices -- the Sensex and the Nifty -- rose 26.49 points, or 0.09 per cent, and 44.65 points, or 0.51 per cent, respectively.

Trading in the green throughout the day, the benchmark BSE Sensex added 363.98 points, or 1.31 per cent, to end at 28,078.35 after shuttling between 28,110.37 and 27,795.74. It had gained 16.86 points in yesterday's choppy session. This is the biggest single-session gain since July 11 when it had gained 499.79 points.

Investor sentiment got a shot in the arm after the long-pending indirect tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and is likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 8.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service yesterday said the GST implementation will be positive for the country's economic growth without any significant impact on inflation. The broader NSE Nifty retook the crucial 8,600-mark and hit a high of 8,689.40 before settling up by 132.05 points, or 1.54 per cent, at 8,683.15.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 559.49 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Most Asian markets remained firm, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 1.44 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei ended steady. European indices advanced in early session after the Bank of England announced a post-Brexit interest rate cut and a larger than expected stimulus package while investors awaited key US non-farm payroll data.

London's FTSE was up 0.40 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.20 per cent and Paris CAC gained 0.4 per cent. Hero MotoCorp topped the gainers list among BSE stocks by surging 5.02 per cent to Rs 3,434.30 while Bajaj Auto climbed 4.38 per cent to Rs 2,859.85.

Other major gainers were Axis Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, M&M, L&T and Adani Ports. Sun Pharma, however, emerged as the top loser with a fall of 0.79 per cent, followed by Power Grid (0.67 per cent).

IT majors Wipro, Infosys and TCS saw profit booking and fell by up to 0.65 per cent. As many as 23 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher.

 Broader markets too were in a fine form, with the mid-cap and small-cap firming up 1.69 per cent and 1.47 per cent, respectively, on increased buying by investors.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, auto rose the most by 3.14 per cent followed by oil & gas 2.74 per cent, metal 2.56 per cent, capital goods 2.34 per cent, PSU 2.17 per cent, banking 2.05 per cent and realty 2.04 per cent. IT fell 0.15 per cent.