Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) The Indian stock market closed in the green on Monday as buying was seen across the sectors, especially in the auto and IT verticals. Benchmark indices commenced the week on a buoyant note, extending their upward trajectory for the second consecutive session.

At the end of trading, the Sensex was up 455.37 points or 0.56 per cent at 82,176.45 and the Nifty was up 148 points or 0.60 per cent at 25,001.15.

The rise was led by auto and IT stocks. Both Nifty Auto and Nifty IT index closed with a gain of one per cent each. Apart from this, buying was seen in metal, realty, media, energy, commodity and PSE indices.

Along with largecap, buying was also seen in midcap and smallcap. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 379.50 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 57,067.25, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was up 64.45 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 17,707.80.

“The index formed a bullish candle with a higher high and higher low signalling continuation of the up move for the second session in a row as strong buying demand from the 20 days EMA. The bias remains positive and dips if any in the coming sessions should be used as buying opportunity as we expect index to head higher towards 25,300 levels in the coming sessions,” said Bajaj Broking Research in its note.

According to market watchers, the US decision to consider extending the deadline for imposing aggressive tariffs on EU, coupled with a decline in the dollar index, contributed to a rebound in the domestic equity markets.

These developments suggest that trade negotiations are progressing constructively, which could help moderate market volatility.

“Additionally, the early onset of the southwest monsoon and a decline in domestic bond yields have encouraged investors to maintain their focus on riskier assets. The broader market outperformed, driven by expectations of increased rural consumption and a stronger Q4 GDP, following better-than-anticipated corporate earnings for the quarter,” informed Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Rupee traded higher by 24 paise to close at 85.09 against the US dollar, supported by continued weakness in the dollar index, which fell to 98.93.

“A series of key US economic data lined up this week including Durable Goods Orders, FOMC Meeting Minutes, Q1 GDP, and the Core PCE Price Index are expected to keep USD-INR volatility elevated. The rupee is likely to remain within a range of 84.50 to 85.25 in the near term,” said Jateen Trivedi from LKP Securities.

–IANS

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