Mumbai: Equities jumped on July 12 for the second day running as the benchmark Sensex climbed over 181 points to close at a fresh 11-month high of 27,808 on sustained capital inflows ahead of key macro data of IIP and CPI inflation. The NSE Nifty too got past its key 8,500-mark.
Asia rallied on the back of an overnight record close in the US following last week's strong US jobs data. Europe also started off on a higher note on hopes that more stimulus from central banks are on the way to contain the Brexit fallout.
Back home, prospects of encouraging Q1 earnings numbers, an above-normal monsoon so far and its progress, and hopes of the GST Bill passing the Rajya Sabha muster in the upcoming monsoon session accelerated buying activity. There is considerable buzz among investors on likely announcement of the government of a new RBI Governor in the next few days.
The Sensex surged 181.45 points, or 0.66 per cent, to end at a new 11-month high of 27,808.14 on widespread gains ahead of release of key macroeconomic data -- IIP for May and Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) for June.
The gauge had soared almost 500 points in yesterday's trade on across the board buying amid positive global cues. The broader NSE Nifty recaptured the 8,500-mark and ended at 8.521.05, up 53.15 points or 0.63 per cent. Intra-day, it moved between 8,526.60 and 8,479.20. Both indices closed at their highest levels in 11 months.
"The market extended gains as the expectation of stimulus from various global central banks aided the rally. Good monsoon and hope of positive start of earnings season will be key triggers, going forward," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
In the the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 ended higher and 1 remained unchanged. ICICI Bank took the top spot, surging 4.68 per cent, followed by Tata Steel 4.63 per cent. Other big movers of the day are Axis Bank (3.03 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (2.27 per cent), HDFC (1.50 per cent), ONGC (1.20 per cent) and RIL (1.15 per cent).
Staffing firm Quess Corp today made a spectacular debut at the bourses by surging 58.71 per cent to Rs 503.10 as against the issue price of Rs 317. Among sectoral indices, metal rose the most by 2.87 per cent followed by realty 2.02 per cent, banking 1.62 per cent, infrastructure 1.06 per cent, consumer durables 0.91 per cent, auto 0.57 per cent, oil & gas 0.41 per cent and capital goods 0.25 per cent.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,055.80 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Broader markets continued to display a firm trend as retail investors mounted more bullish bets, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 0.49 per cent and small-cap 0.08 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei climbed 2.46 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.65 per cent while Shanghai Composite surged 1.82 per cent. Europe was trading in the positive terrain too in the early session, with the UK's FTSE, Frankfurt's DAX and Paris' CAC advancing by up to 0.2 per cent.
