Nifty tops 10,000 as global frictions ease, macro data ahead

Mumbai: A somewhat restrained posturing by North Korea calmed the frayed nerves of investors as the Nifty on Monday closed beyond the 10,000-mark for the first time since August 7.

The Sensex went up 195 points, powered by auto stocks after a less-than-expected GST cess hike and rising vehicle sales. Investors are looking forward to August CPI inflation and July IIP data on Tuesday for any turnaround after the disruption caused by GST.

"Investors heaved a sigh of relief as the North Korean leader abandoned his weekend plans of launching another missile in favour of a party. Benchmark indices in India opened the day in the green and continued to trade with strength through the day to hit their highest intra-day levels in more than a month," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

The 50-share Nifty index reclaimed the 10,000-mark to hit high of 10,028.65 before ending up 71.25 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 10,006.05 -- its highest closing since August 7. Because of the buying pick-up, the 30-share BSE index opened higher and hit the day's high of 31,952.87, but settled at 31,882.16, up 194.64 points -- 0.61 per cent. It had gained 25.55 points in the previous two sessions in a cautious trade. Investor wealth as measured in terms of market capitalisation soared by Rs 99,164.33 crore to Rs 134.58 lakh crore.

Auto stocks jumped after the GST Council on Saturday exempted small and hybrid cars from any hike, but decided to levy an additional 2 per cent to 7 per cent cess on mid-sized and luxury cars as also SUVs.

Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed that domestic passenger vehicle sales grew 13.76 per cent in August as consumers tried to make the most of price cuts post GST to beat the cess hike.

Asian shares had a good day as investors were relieved that North Korea desisted from its earlier threat of conducting another missile test this weekend on the occasion of the founding anniversary.

"However, investors would be wise to not throw complete caution to the wind as markets assess the possible economic impact of hurricane Irma as it chews its way up the Florida coast," said Lakshmanan.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) lapped up shares worth Rs 487.97 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 256.42 crore last Friday, showed provisional data.

Sensex heavyweight Larsen and Toubro was the topper, surging 3.80 per cent to close at an over 2-year high of Rs 1,216.90. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki spurted 2.41 per cent to close at an all-time high of Rs 8,164.90 while Tata Motors was up 0.09 per cent at Rs 375.40. Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, NTPC and PowerGrid all climbed by up to 2.84 per cent.

The BSE capital goods index stole the show, with a jump of 2.60 per cent, followed by power, banking and oil and gas. In sync with the overall trend, broader markets showed firmness, with the BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices rising up to 0.77 per cent.