The S&P BSE Sensex rose nearly 250 points on Monday after a slew of positive data raised expectations over interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as early as this month.
The Sensex ended at 25,856 points, up 246 points, or 0.96%, while the 50-share Nifty gained 82.95 points, or 1.06%, to close at 7,872 points.
"Nifty is poised to make a dash towards the 8100 mark as the index has breached the neckline of an inverted bullish head and shoulder pattern indicating that the markets would surge higher," said Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.
While 29 out of 30 Sensex companies ended in green, metal index was the top gainer among sectoral indices.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the wholesale price inflation (WPI) declined further to minus 4.9% in August, reaching the lowest level since 2005. The WPI has been in negative territory for the past ten months.
"The WPI rate may not have as much of a bearing on policymaking as the CPI rate, but the fact that it has plummeted again is unlikely to be ignored. This strengthens our view that interest rates will be cut at the RBI's policy meeting later this month," said Capital Economics in a note.
The RBI's next bi-monthly monetary policy review is scheduled on 29 September and the bank is widely expected to cut lending rates amid falling inflation rate.
"We are maintaining our view that the RBI will cut the repo rate by another 25bp to 7.00% at its next policy meeting on 29th September before the easing cycle concludes," said Capital Economics.
Stock markets are also buoyed by a positive industrial activity data for July released on Friday after trading hours. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose to 4.2%.
"RBI will take a considered call on the issue. There is no divergence in perception. The government and RBI are working together. Taking into account the overall factors, RBI will take a considered call," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, told The Economic Times.
Indian markets shrugged off weakness in equities in other major Asian countries. While China's Shanghai Composite closed 2.6% lower at 3,114 points, Japan's Nikkei ended at 17,965, down 299 points.
Rate sensitive stocks like banking and real estate rose sharply. Banking stocks Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI ended with a gain of 1 to 3%, while realty stocks India Bulls Realty, Sobha Realty and HDIL also ended higher.
Metal stocks Vedanta, Hindalco and Tata Steel ended the session gaining 2 to 4%. IT stocks rose in anticipation of interest rate hike by the US Fed this week. Wipro gained nearly 2.5% to close at Rs 570.75.
A rate hike by the US Federal Reserve is expected to further strengthen the US dollar, which could result in a revenue increase for Indian IT firms in rupee terms.
