Business Standard Podcast

Following Asian peers, the domestic equity market ended with sharp gains on Monday, led by across-the-board buying, barring IT counter. The S&P BSE Sensex reclaimed the crucial 37,000 mark to end at 37,054, up 383 points or 1 per cent. The 50-share index Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) added 133 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 11,068. Out of 50 constituents, 42 ended in the green and rest in the red. Among individual stocks, Bharti Airtel zoomed over 8 per cent to end at Rs 335. Last week, news reports surfaced the Singapore government’s investment arm GIC will pick up 4 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for Rs 5,000 crore by subscribing to the telco’s Rs 25,000 crore rights issue. Shares of Godfrey Phillips India surged 11 per cent in the intra-day trade, hitting a 52-week high of the BSE after the company issued a clarification regarding alleged violation of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) laws of India. The cigarettes and tobacco products company said the allegations were"completely misconceived and misplaced". The stock closed at Rs 1,036 apiece, up 10 per cent. Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) continued their northward journey with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining 10 per cent in past eight trading days on expectation of improving assets quality going forward. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty 50 index was up 3 per cent, while Nifty Bank index gained 4 per cent during the same period.     Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 2.25 per cent higher with IDBI Bank and Union Bank being the top gainers. The Nifty Metal index climbed nearly 3 per cent led by gains in Jindal Stainless (Hisar) and Welsun Corp. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap index ended up 290 points, or 1.96 per cent higher at 15,095, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,763, up 234 points, or 1.61 per cent.