Sensex, Nifty gain for third straight session led by Reliance, HDFC Bank

The Indian equity benchmarks gained for third straight session on Monday led by gains in Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel. The Sensex rose as much as 364 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 21,477.15. The markets mirrored gains in other Asian peers as cooler than expected US inflation data boosted bets of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve next year.

The Sensex ended 230 points higher at 71,337 and Nifty 50 index advanced 92 points to 21,441.

Buying was visible across board as twelve of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Oil & Gas index's 1.5 per cent gain. Nifty Healthcare, Pharma, Metal, Bank, Auto and FMCG indices also rose between 0.5-1 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty IT, Media and PSU Bank indices closed lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.65 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.14 per cent.

Among the individual shares, Network18 ended 3 per cent higher on report that its parent Reliance Industries signed a non-binding term sheet with Walt Disney to merge their media operations in India.

Divi's Labs was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.55 per cent to close at Rs 3,863. Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports, NTPC, ONGC, Grasim Industries, Apollo Hospitals, Wipro, Britannia and Bajaj Auto also rose between 1.4-2.65 per cent.

On the flipside, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and HCL Technologies were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,329 shares ended higher while 1,559 closed lower on the BSE.