Sensex rises for 3rd day, gains 142 pts; L&T spurts over 4 pc

Mumbai, Aug.10 (PTI): The BSE Sensex notched up gains for the third straight session on Monday, bouyed by engineering, finance and pharma stocks amid positive cues from global markets.

After rallying 390.12 points during the day, the 30-share BSE benchmark pared some gains to end 141.51 points or 0.37 per cent higher at 38,182.08.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty climbed 56.10 points or 0.50 per cent to close at 11,270.15.

L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.81 per cent, followed by M&M, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank and Titan.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards, shedding up to 1.26 per cent.

According to traders, market sentiment was positive amid firm cues from global indices and consistent foreign fund inflows.

Global markets rose following positive factory output data from China, though escalating US-China tensions capped the gains.

Bourses in Shanghai and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Hong Kong settled in the red. Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with gains in early deals.

"Today's trade was characterised by heightened activity in defence and pharmaceutical stocks, the former due to the proposed changes being implemented favoring domestic producers and the latter due to earnings...

"On the broader market too, we witnessed investor interest across stocks in the sugar sector as large integrated sugar complexes have demonstrated success in their distillery operations," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

BSE healthcare, capital goods, realty, industrials, utilities and power indices rallied as much as 4.69 per cent, while energy and oil and gas closed with losses.

In the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices surged up to 1.47 per cent.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.97 per cent higher at USD 44.83 per barrel.

In the forex market, the rupee settled with gains of 3 paise at 74.90 against the US dollar.

India's novel coronavirus tally crossed the 22-lakh mark on Monday with 62,064 new cases, while the recoveries surged to over 15.35 lakh, as per the Union Health Ministry.