Markets extend winning streak; Nifty tops 11k-mark

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks defied gravity for the fourth straight session on Monday as robust buying in banking, financials and IT counters offset lacklustre global cues amid mounting Covid-19 cases.

Starting the session on a positive note, the BSE Sensex marked the day's high at 37,478.87, before closing at 37,418.99, up 398.85 points or 1.08 per cent. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 120.50 points or 1.11 per cent to end at 11,022.20. The Sensex has now gained 1,385.93 points in four sessions, while the Nifty has advanced 414.85 points.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Monday, spurting 4.23 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Market heavyweight HDFC Bank accounted for most of the gains on the benchmark after posting strong results over the weekend.

The country's largest private sector lender clocked a nearly 20 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs 6,658.62 crore for the June quarter on the back of healthy interest income driven by growth in advances. Sun Pharma, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank and L&T were among the losers, shedding up to 3.86 per cent.

Encouraging earnings by corporates and a rising rupee had a rub-off effect on investor sentiment, analysts said. "Nifty continued its momentum and closed above the 11000 mark. Uptrend may continue but it will be stock specific and investors seem to be looking at the earnings commentary for further direction," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sectorally, BSE IT, teck, telecom, finance and banking indices rose as much as 2.30 per cent. However, BSE healthcare, power, capital goods and utilities closed with losses. Broader BSE large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap indices rose up to 1.01 per cent, underperforming the benchmark.