Stock markets: Benchmark Sensex spurted 418 points to settle at more than six-month high while Nifty closed above the 17,700 mark on Tuesday amid optimism in the global markets and positive domestic macroeconomic data points.
Buying in index majors Reliance Industries and ITC also added to the optimism in equities. Climbing for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 418.45 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 63,143.16. During the day, it advanced 452.76 points or 0.72 per cent to 63,177.47.
The NSE Nifty climbed 114.65 points or 0.62 per cent to end at 18,716.15. From the Sensex pack, ITC, Titan, Asian Paints, Reliance, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Nestle and ICICI Bank were the major gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
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Retail inflation declined for 4th consecutive month
Retail inflation declined to a 25-month low of 4.25 per cent in May, mainly on account of softening prices of food and fuel items. This is the fourth straight month when retail inflation has declined and the third straight month of Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation remaining within the RBI's comfort zone of below 6 per cent.
India's industrial production growth rose to 4.2 per cent in April from 1.7 per cent in March 2023, mainly due to good performance by the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to official data released on Monday.
Asian markets ended in green
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green. Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in positive territory. The US markets ended in positive territory on Monday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.55 per cent to USD 72.95 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 626.62 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. The 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 99.08 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 62,724.71 on Monday. The Nifty advanced 38.10 points or 0.21 per cent to end at 18,601.50.
Meanwhile, the rupee gained 5 paise to settle at 82.38 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, as a weak greenback overseas and strong macroeconomic data supported investor sentiments.
Rupee rises 5 paise against US dollar
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.42 against the US dollar and settled at 82.38 (provisional), up 5 paise over its previous close. During the day, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.35 and a low of 82.47.
(With PTI inputs)
