Stock markets rally on broad-based buying

Mumbai: Domestic equities rallied for the fourth successive session on Tuesday on account of broad-based buying by participants amid positive global cues.

The BSE gauge Sensex zoomed 600.87 points or 1.54 per cent to close at 39,574.57. Intra-day, the index surged over 650 points to touch the session''s high of 39,623.76, before paring some gains.

Similarly, the NSE barometer Nifty climbed 159.05 points or 1.38 per cent to end at 11,662.40. On the Sensex chart, index heavyweight HDFC rallied over 8 per cent. Other prominent gainers were IndusInd Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Ultratech Cement. Among the laggards were Tata Steel, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Reliance Industries. Of the Sensex constituents, 24 ended in the green while six closed with losses.

Asian shares too continued their upward trend after US President Donald Trump was discharged from the hospital following Covid-19 treatment. Investor sentiment was also boosted by hopes of a fresh US stimulus package. Foreign investors bought equities worth a net Rs 236.71 crore in the Indian markets on Monday, exchange data showed.

Meanwhile, the rupee pared initial gains to settle 17 paise lower at 73.46 against the US dollar on Tuesday due to dollar buying by banks, possibly on behalf of the RBI, and oil importers.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.17 tracking positive domestic equities and weak greenback, but soon pared the gains and finally closed at 73.46, down 17 paise over its previous close of 73.29. During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.15 and a low of 73.51 against the American currency. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent lower at 93.49.

"Despite gains in domestic and global equities the rupee was weighed down against the US dollar. Volatility for the greenback is expected to remain high in the next couple of sessions ahead of the RBI policy meeting that is scheduled to begin tomorrow and outcome of the same will be released on Friday," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.