Indian shares rose for a third consecutive session on Monday as Reliance Industries Ltd surged after posting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, while the sentiment was supported after Chinese economic growth data eased fears of a hard landing.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 150.32 points or 0.55 per cent at 27,364.92 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 36.9 points or 0.45 per cent at 8,275.05.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index was the star-performer and was up 2.57 per cent, followed by TECk 1.35 per cent, healthcare 1.26 per cent and IT 1.11 per cent. On the other hand, capital goods index was down 0.91 per cent, followed by metal 0.56 per cent, consumer durables and auto 0.36 per cent each.
Top five Sensex gainers were
Reliance Industries surged after its July-September consolidated net profit rose a bigger-than-expected 12.5 per cent from a year earlier.
Infosys Ltd rose 1.7 per cent, recovering from a 6.2 per cent slump last week after the company cut its dollar revenue guidance.
But recent outperformers fell, with Tata Motors down 1.99 per cent after surging 29.7 per cent in the previous two weeks.
At the same time, investors were comforted after China's economy grew slightly better than forecasts in the July-September quarter, even as it dipped below 7 per cent for the first time since the global financial crisis.
Still, traders worried the gains might not sustain. October contracts for India's NSE index futures were trading not far from the 50-share spot index, indicating little potential upside.
"Selective companies, especially leaders in sectors, would show better results than others as the economy improves," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K. R. Choksey Securities.
"Derivatives are also adding to the pressure."
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks pared losses with Australia's dollar as China reported third-quarter economic growth that beat estimates. US stocks closed higher on Friday for a third week of gains as mixed data pushed out expectations for the timing of the first rate hike. US industrial production fell by 0.2 per cent in September after edging down by a revised 0.1 per cent in August. Economists had expected production to drop by 0.3 per cent compared to the 0.4 per cent decrease originally reported for the previous month."
European shares hit a five-week high on Monday, helped by positive news on names like Metro and Deutsche Bank and as better-than-predicted Chinese growth data and hopes of more stimulus there improved sentiment.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.4 percent to 1,441.19 points by 0812 GMT after rising to 1,446.91 points, the highest level since early September.
Asian shares were at near two-month highs as a batch of Chinese data showed that the world’s second-largest economy is slowing further but is not in danger of a hard-landing.
US stocks had ended higher last Friday, notching up a third week of gains, lifted by a jump in General Electric shares and upbeat consumer sentiment data.