The Nifty 50 was up 0.47% to 18,151.30 as of 9:26 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.47%. All the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with the high-weightage financials and information technology stocks rising over 0.3% each. The benchmark Nifty 50 index rose over 4% in April, its best month since November 2022. The index, which gained 2.5% last week, moved into overbought territory for the first time in nearly five months on Friday.
"Domestic equities are continuously gaining strength, supported by health earnings and foreign institutional investors' buying," said Siddhartha Khemkha, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. "Expect this momentum to continue and Nifty to head towards 18,200 levels."
Wall Street equities closed slightly lower overnight after
data showed U.S. construction spending rose more than expected
in March, indicating strength in economic spending. This set the
stage for a rate hike on Wednesday. Asian equities are subdued. Among individual stocks, Rossari Biotech jumped 7%
after reporting a 20.3% year-on-year growth in its consolidated
profit in the March quarter.
Satin Creditcare Ltd surged 20% after posting a
73% growth in net profit in the March quarter.
($1 = 81.6950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Janane Venkatraman)
