Mumbai, Aug 19 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices ended the session with a decent rally on Tuesday for the second consecutive day, buoyed by the GST rationalisation move.

Sensex settled at 81,644.39, up 370 points or 0.46 per cent. The 30-share index started the session with a decent gap-up at 81,39.11 against last session’s closing of 81,273.75. Continuing the last session’s gaining momentum, the index touched an intra-day high at 81,755.88, buoyed by buying in auto, FMCG, oil and gas and others.

Nifty ended the session at 24,980.65, up 103.70 or 0.42 per cent.

“The national market continued the renewed momentum, buoyed by expectations of GST rationalisation and a recent upgrade in India’s credit rating,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Additional optimism came from signs of easing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, shifting the near-term outlook from consolidation to a more constructive stance, Nair added.

Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Bank, Maruti, Bharati Airtel, Tata Steel, ITC, Ultratech Cement and Infosys were the top gainers among the Sensex basket. While Bajaj FinServ, Power Grid, Mahindra and Mahindra, HDFC Bank, and BEL settled in negative territory.

The majority of sectoral indices ended the session in green with Nifty Auto (up 329 points or 1.31 per cent) and Nifty FMCG (up 582.40 points or 1.05 per cent) leading the sectoral rally, escalating the previous session’s momentum post GST reform announcement. Nifty IT (121 points) and Nifty Bank (130 points) ended the session in positive territory.

Broader indices followed suit as well. Nifty Midcap 100 surged 551 points or 0.97 per cent, Nifty Smallcap 100 soared 123 points or 0.70 per cent, and Nifty 100 escalated 120 points or o.47 per cent.

“On the technical front, after a gap-up opening, the Nifty has sustained for two sessions in a sideways-to-bullish trend,” said Mandar Bhojane of Choice Broking.

Prices are taking support at the 20, 50, 100, and 200 EMAs, indicating strong underlying strength. If the index sustains above 25,050, it has the potential to move towards 25,250 and 25,500 in the coming sessions, he added.

–IANS

aps/na