Markets on Tuesday ignored the heavy profit booking in Reliance Industries Limited and shrugged off the pessimism over the economy as the Sensex rallied more than 500 points on the back of banking and finance stocks.
Investors picked up their cues from the purchasing manager’s index of IHS Markit India for October which rose to 58.9 from 56.8 in September amid positive commentary by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in an interview where she said economic data is pointing to a rebound. A print above 50 in PMI means expansion and below that contraction.
Encouraging second quarter results and positive inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) lifted sentiment.
However, the shares of Reliance witnessed volatility and ended in the red after tumbling 8.6 per cent on Monday. Brokerages are offering different perspectives on the company, with some suggesting the stock could even touch Rs 1,400 because of lack of traction in its refinery operations.
Reliance on Tuesday opened marginally higher at Rs 1,888 and rose to an intra-day high of Rs 1,909.50. That led to selling and the counter settled at Rs 1,849.45, a fall of 1.48 per cent, or Rs 27.85, over the last close.
Reliance did not affect the benchmark Sensex as global markets moved higher with the start of polling in the US.
The Sensex opened higher at 39990.75 and rose to the day’s high of 40354.73 after which it ended at 40261.13, showing a gain of 503.55 points or 1.27 per cent. The broader NSE Nifty jumped 144.35 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 11813.50.
