Sensex Up 200 Points, Nifty Above 24,550; IREDA Rallies 7%

Indian stock markets started with decent gains on Monday amid buying in HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement, Tech M, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, and SBI.

The BSE Sensex was quoting 157 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at 80,676, while the NSE Nifty50 was up 85 points or 0.35 per cent at 24,588.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices advanced 0.37 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT extended its rally into second day, rising 1 per cent. This was followed by 0.6 per cent gain in the Nifty Pharma index.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: “The global support for the market rally in India continues. It is important to understand that the US is leading this rally with 18.4% returns YTD in S&P 500 compared with 12.7% YTD returns in Nifty.

Latest inflation data in the US indicates a rate cut by the Fed in September. This is likely to keep the US market buoyant with positive impact in India, too. However, valuations in India are moving to elevated levels.

Investors have to be cautious about the excessive valuations in the momentum stocks which are moving to frothy levels.IT results from TCS and HCL Tech indicate improving prospects which the market is discounting now. But the growth projections of IT companies remain low and, therefore, a sharp restart from the present levels is unlikely. Financials remain the fairly valued segment of the market. Decline in US 10-year bond yield is positive for FII inflows.”