Sensex gains 330 points, Nifty above 24,500 as IT stocks lead rally

Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices opened the week on a higher note on Monday, as IT and public sector bank stocks led the rally in the early trade.

Market sentiment was buoyed by a US court ruling, declaring that the US President Donald Trump's tariffs were mostly illegal but maintained them until mid-October, and better-than-anticipated June-quarter GDP data.

The Sensex rose by 335 points or 0.42 per cent to 80,144, while the Nifty 50 gained 104.30 points or 0.43 per cent to 24,531.

The broad-cap indices outperformed the benchmarks as the Nifty Midcap 100 advanced by 0.85 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 was up 0.70 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT Index emerged as the top performer, rising 1.59 per cent. Nifty Consumer Durables, which gained 0.98 per cent. The Nifty Metal and PSU Bank indices advanced 0.78 and 0.79 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the Nifty FMCG Index was the lone laggard, slipping 0.24 per cent.

In the Nifty pack, top gainers included Tech Mahindra, TCS, Hero Motocorp, HCL Tech, and Trent. Meanwhile, the top laggards were Jio Financial, down 1.14 per cent, followed by Reliance, HUL, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Consumer Products.

"The Nifty 50 is trading below its 100-DEMA, showing a weak trend with risks of further downside if it moves below 24,350. Key supports are at 24,350 and 24,150, while resistance lies at 24,600–24,800," said Mandar Bhojane from Choice Broking.

Analysts are also keen on China, India, and Russia having united in response to Trump's tantrums, affecting global power equations and trade.

A US court ruling that Trump's tariffs are illegal is a major development, making the Supreme Court's final decision on the issue crucial, said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

"Domestically, India’s Q1 GDP growth number at 7.8 per cent came much better than expected. It appears that the fiscal stimulus provided in the budget and the monetary stimulus provided by the MPC are acting with a lag. The proposed GST reforms can accelerate growth in the coming quarters," he added.

The US markets ended in the red zone on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq declined by 1.15 per cent and the S&P 500 lost 0.64 per cent.

The Asian markets opened the week mixed. China's Shanghai index rose 0.48 per cent, and Shenzhen rose 0.52 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was down 2.03 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.02 per cent. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.83 per cent.

In August, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) withdrew Rs 34,993 crore from Indian stocks, their sharpest retreat this year, as sentiment was affected by the US tariff shocks and weak June-quarter earnings.

--IANS

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