Sensex zooms 1,075 points; Nifty reclaims 11,600 mark

Extending gains for the second consecutive session, domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex skyrocketed 1,075 points on Monday (September 23) driven by continued euphoria over the government’s tax booster.

After soaring over 1,426 points during the day, the 30-share index ended 1,075.41 points or 2.8% higher at 39,090.03.

The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the 11,600 level, zooming 326 points or 2.9% to settle at 11,600.20. In the previous session on Friday, the BSE barometer logged its biggest single-day jump in over a decade by surging 1,921.15 points or 5.32% to 38,014.62, while the NSE Nifty zoomed 569.40 points or 5.32% to end at 11,274.20.

Over the past two sessions, the Sensex has gained 2,996.56 points or 8.30%, while the Nifty advanced 895.40 points or 8.36%. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finance, L&T, Asian Paints, ITC, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, Maruti and SBI, rallying up to 8.70%. On the other hand, Infosys, RIL, Tata Motors, PowerGrid, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, TCS and HCL Tech tanked up to 4.97%.

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Market continued to rally on Monday as investor sentiment remained euphoric for the second session in a row, traders said. Bulls took over Dalal Street on Friday after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a surprise cut in corporate tax rates.

Announcing the latest set of measures to jump-start flagging growth, the finance minister slashed the base corporate tax for existing companies to 22% from 30%; and for new manufacturing firms, incorporated after October 1, 2019, to 15% from 25%.

Further, the GST Council slashed the same on hotel tariffs and some goods with a view to addressing sectoral concerns in a slowing economy. Meanwhile, the rupee was trading flat at 70.92 against US dollar.

Brent crude futures fell 0.79% to $63.77 per barrel (intra-day). Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Index ended significantly higher, while Nikkei and Kospi settled in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in their respective early sessions.

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