Sensex jumps 192 points; RIL surges 4 per cent

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex continued its winning run for the fifth straight session on Monday, rallying 192 points, and the NSE Nifty inched toward the 11,000 mark, riding on stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings by some bluechip companies, coupled with positive global cues.

Sensex went past the 36,700-mark to scale a high of 36,701.03 (intra-day) on the back of widespread gains. Finally, the 30-share index settled at 36,578.96, up 192.35 points, or 0.53 per cent. It touched a low of 36,351.77. The gauge had risen 533.05 points in the previous four sessions.

The Nifty touched the session high (intra-day) of 10,987.45; and finally closed the session with a rise of 54.90 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 10,961.85.

Both benchmark indices were driven by strong gains in IT, teck, oil and gas, pharma and banking shares amid earnings optimism. Stocks of software exporters were buyers' fancy as the rupee weakened.

The rupee weakened against the dollar to 71.22 as Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed to two-month high of USD 62.94 per barrel.

Sentiment remained upbeat after Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and few others posted better-than-expected Q3 numbers last week, traders said. Most of other Asian bourses rose with Shanghai leading the gains, as investors hoped for more stimulus from China after disappointing growth, amid optimism about the US and China progressing with trade talks.

China's economy grew at 6.6 per cent in 2018, its slowest rate in almost three decades as the world's second biggest economy grappled with the effects of the current trade war with the US, and declining exports. In the three months to December, the economy grew 6.4 per cent from a year earlier, down from 6.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 124.91 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares to the tune of Rs 97 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.