Mumbai: Continuing its climb for the fifth straight session, the benchmark Sensex surged over 137 points in early trade on April 20 as investors built more bets amid increased foreign fund inflows. The 30-share barometer rose 137.47 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 25,953.83.
The gauge had gained 1,142.52 points in the previous four sessions on positive macroeconomic data, forecast of an above-normal monsoon and Infosys' upbeat revenue guidance. Also, the NSE Nifty was trading higher by 35.70 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 7,950.40.
The rupee gave investors more to look forward to after it rose 30 paise to 66.25 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of American currency by exporters. Major gainers that supported the key indices were Tata Steel, HDFC Ltd, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's, Wipro, Lupin, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, NTPC and BHEL, advancing by up to 3.36 per cent.
Bucking the trend, TCS, the country's largest software exporter, fell 1.82 per cent to Rs 2,476.55 despite the company reporting a stellar 72.7 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 6,413 crore for the March quarter. Stock exchanges were closed yesterday for 'Mahavir Jayanti'. Brokers said sustained buying by investors, foreign capital inflows, an 'above-normal' monsoon forecast this year and better-than-expected earnings by Infosys all bolstered sentiment.
They said, however, a mixed trend at other Asian markets tempered mood and slammed brakes on the rising pace of the domestic market here. In the rest of Asia, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.61 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.06 per cent in early trade on April 20. Shanghai Composite was trading 1.81 per cent down. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.27 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.
