New Delhi, 03 August (H.S.): Indian stock markets ended on a strong note for the fourth consecutive trading session on Monday, tracking positive global cues after US President Donald Trump announced that a proposed major strike on Iran would be postponed. Renewed hopes of a peace agreement in West Asia and a more than five per cent decline in crude oil prices boosted investor sentiment across global markets.

Following the global trend, domestic equity markets also witnessed sustained buying momentum. The Sensex surged more than 800 points during intraday trading, while the Nifty gained over 390 points. Although both benchmark indices witnessed some initial selling pressure after opening higher, buyers soon returned to the market, pushing the indices upward. At the end of the session, the Sensex closed with a gain of 0.70 per cent, while the Nifty ended 1.60 per cent higher.

The BSE Sensex opened at 78,883.34, gaining 788.70 points or 1.01 per cent. Soon after the opening, selling pressure dragged the index down by around 386 points from its opening level to 78,497.34. However, strong buying support helped the index recover and maintain an upward trend throughout the day. Despite occasional profit-booking, the Sensex closed 544.39 points higher at 78,639.03.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened at 24,572.70, rising 189.10 points or 0.78 per cent. After slipping 57.55 points from its opening level to 24,515.15 due to early selling, the index regained momentum as investors stepped in with fresh buying. In the final five minutes of trading, the Nifty witnessed a sharp surge and closed 390.70 points higher at 24,774.30.

Most sectoral indices traded in positive territory during the day. Information Technology stocks witnessed strong buying interest, with the Nifty IT index closing 3.28 per cent higher. The Nifty Bank index gained 1.72 per cent, while the Auto index ended 1.48 per cent higher. Capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, metal and public sector enterprise indices also closed with gains.

On the other hand, shares from the oil and gas and healthcare sectors witnessed selling pressure. In the broader market, buying activity remained strong, with the Nifty Midcap index rising 1.21 per cent and the Smallcap index gaining 1.29 per cent.

The strong market performance increased investors’ wealth by nearly Rs 3 lakh crore. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rose to Rs 490.41 lakh crore (provisional) after Monday’s trading, compared with Rs 487.43 lakh crore on the last trading session of the previous week. This resulted in an increase of around Rs 2.98 lakh crore in investors’ wealth.

During the day’s trading, 4,595 shares were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 2,837 shares closed higher, 1,552 declined, while 206 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,031 shares witnessed active trading, with 2,175 closing in the green and 856 ending in the red.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 21 shares closed with gains, while nine ended lower. In the Nifty 50 index, 44 stocks finished in positive territory and six closed with losses.

Among major stocks, Grasim Industries gained 5.13 per cent, TCS rose 4.57 per cent, InterGlobe Aviation advanced 4.43 per cent, Infosys climbed 4.42 per cent and Shriram Finance increased 4.16 per cent, emerging as the top five gainers of the day.

Meanwhile, Apollo Hospitals declined 1.53 per cent, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.36 per cent, Maruti Suzuki slipped 0.59 per cent, ONGC dropped 0.22 per cent and Tech Mahindra edged down 0.14 per cent, making them the top five losers in Monday’s session.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar