Cheering the robust economic growth numbers, the stock market benchmark Sensex moved up 81 points Monday to record its fourth straight session of gains.
Analysts said the upbeat gross domestic product data for the quarter and fiscal ended March 2010, helped Dalal Street put aside the worries over eurozone debt crisis and weak cues
coming in from global markets.
After a highly volatile session, the Bombay Stock Exchange's barometer ended at 16,944.63 points, up 0.48 per cent, or 81.57 points, over the previous close.
The 30-share index, however, registered a fall of 3.49 per cent in May amid the eurozone debt worries.
The Sensex Monday opened weak but recovered after the GDP data were released by the government. Hectic buying in PSU and auto stocks during last hour helped the index close at near
the day's high of 16,971.15 points.
The economy registered a better than estimated 7.4 per cent growth in 2009-10. During the March quarter, the GDP grew by a robust 8.6 per cent, mainly on the back of strong expansion in manufacturing sector.
The wide-based Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange too finished higher by 0.39 per cent at 5,086.30 points.
"The GDP data helped the market to shrug-off the negative cues coming in from global markets. However, in coming session, the market is likely to remain sideways," Bonanza Portfolio's AVP Avinash Gupta said.
Mahindra & Mahindra surged 5 per cent, the most in Sensex components, after it said that it is interested to make a bid for South Korea's ailing sports utility vehicle maker SsangYong Motor.
Other auto stocks were also in demand ahead of May sales data. Hero Honda rose by 1.34 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 1.13
per cent and Tata Motors by 0.89 per cent.
PSU, auto, pharma and oil & gas were among the top gaining sectors on BSE and rose up to 3 per cent. Realty and IT were the top losers.
ONGC jumped 3.21 per cent and BHEL 1.62 per cent. SBI rose by 1.48 per cent and ICICI Bank by 0.38 per cent.
Among the 30 index stocks, 19 scrips ended with gains.
Sterlite Industries, on the other hand, declined the most settling lower by 2.79 per cent. RCom dropped 1.76 per centand DLF lost 1.34 per cent.
On the global front, Asian markets were mixed. Key indices in South Korea, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan finished higher by up to 2.10 per cent, while China's Shanghai index plunged 2.40 per cent. Europe was also trading in red in the mid-session.