Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty eked out gains in volatile trade on Monday, extending the winning streak to a sixth straight day as gains in auto and IT shares offset losses in banking and FMCG stocks.
Logging its longest gaining streak in four months, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended marginally up by 13.54 points or 0.02 per cent to 59,846.51. During the day, it climbed 276.14 points or 0.46 per cent to 60,109.11.
The broader NSE Nifty advanced 24.90 points or 0.14 per cent to finish at 17,624.05, marking its sixth straight day of gains.
Sensex and Nifty have risen by around 4 per cent in the six days of gains which is the longest winning run since the eight-day rally from November 22 to December 1 last year.
Among the Sensex firms, Tata Motors ended with over 5 per cent gains after the company reported an 8 per cent year-on-year increase in group global wholesales, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), at 3,61,361 units in the fourth quarter of FY23.
Wipro, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies were among the other major winners.
Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
"The positive quarterly business updates from auto and real estate firms caused strong movements in their respective sectors, but the overall mood was slightly dampened by solid US job data, which raised fears of further rate hikes by the Fed.
"The release of inflation data in India and the US, along with the FOMC minutes, have now become crucial in determining the market trend," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
While benchmark indices ended a tad higher in a lacklustre trading session, realty, oil & gas, auto and power stocks rallied sharply after having retreated last month.
"There are hopes that the interest rate cycle seems to be peaking out after the last week's status quo by RBI and if rates begin to fall going ahead, rate-sensitive stocks would be the most preferred bet by investors," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
"We expect further consolidation in the index however the tone is likely to remain positive. Now, the upcoming results and global cues will largely dictate the trend," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.38 per cent and smallcap gauge advanced 0.16 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, realty jumped 4.17 per cent, utilities climbed 1.60 per cent, power (1.56 per cent), auto (1.23 per cent), oil & gas (1.18 per cent), IT (0.83 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.80 per cent) and teck (0.74 per cent).
FMCG, financial services, telecommunication and bankex were the laggards.
Equity markets were closed on April 7 on account of Good Friday.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.06 per cent to USD 85.19 per barrel.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought equities worth Rs 475.81 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
