Sensex surges 611 points on firm global relief rally

The BSE Sensex on Monday jumped 611 points, its biggest single-day gain in two years, in line with a global rally after the latest US jobs report assuaged fears around inflation and faster rate hikes.

Investors lapped up recently battered metal, oil & gas, FMCG, banking, power, infrastructure, IT, auto, and capital goods stocks amid fresh capital inflows by foreign funds, brokers said.

After opening on a strong footing, the Sensex gave up some of the gains but still ended up by 610.55 points, or 1.83 per cent, at one-week high of 33,917.94 . The index posted its biggest single-day gain since March 1, 2016, when it had jumped 777.35.

The broader Nifty finished at 10,421.40, up 194.55 points, or 1.90 per cent with 47 of its components closing with gains. It touched a high of 10,433.65 points in day trade.

Bharti Airtel rose the most by 4.68 per cent among Sensex scrips its board approved raising up to Rs 16,500 crore for refinancing debt and paying for spectrum liabilities.

Index major ITC surged 4.09 per cent after cigarette cess was kept unchanged at the GST Council meet. Auto stocks rose after domestic passenger vehicle sales increased by 7.77 per cent to 2,75,329 units in February.

"Firm global cues and expectation of ease in domestic inflation to 4.74 per cent excited investors to utilise the bargain opportunity. The fear of global trade war is somewhat factored in the market while, increase in US payroll data suggest stability in the economy, which boosted the global trade," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.