Dalal Street defies global mood; Sensex soars 443 pts, Nifty top 17,650

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Stock market highlights: Despite tepid global mood, domestic equity markets jumped 0.75 per cent on Monday on robust economic growth prospects. India's services activity accelerated in August from a four-month low in July on the back of strong growth in new orders and upturn in business activity. The sector saw the strongest increase in job creation in over 14 years. The Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 55.5 in July to 57.2 in August. 

Against this backdrop, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex soared nearly 500 points intra-day, before cooling off a bit to end at 59,246, up 443 points.  The Nifty50, too, climbed 126 points to settle at 17,666. 

ITC, Sun Pharma, RIL, Tata Steel, NTPC, HCL Tech, L&T, and ICICI bank were the top Sensex gainers, while Hindalco, JSW Steel, Grasim, and Cipla were additional top gainers on the Nifty50. All these stocks advanced between 1 per cent and 3.3 per cent. On the downside, Nestle, Ultratech Cement, Wipro, HUL, and PowerGrid ended weak in a firm market.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap index added 0.46 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap index gained 0.9 per cent. Sectorally, it was a sea of green with the Nifty Private Bank index leading from the front with 1 per cent gain. 

Global markets

European markets fell sharply on Monday as investors ponder economic risks in the region, reignited by concerns about energy supply from Russia. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.3 per cent in early trade, with autos shedding 3.5 per cent to lead losses as most sectors and major bourses slid deep into negative territory. Oil and gas stocks bucked the downward trend to add 1.3 per cent as prices spiked once more.

Earlier in Asia, Nikkei dipped 0.11 per cent, Kospi fell 0.24 per cent, and Hang Seng shedded 1.16 per cent. US markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.