(Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks posted their longest winning streak since November amid optimism that easing of the nationwide lockdown will reboot economic growth.
The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 Index each rose 1.6% at the close in Mumbai. Both gauges rose a fifth consecutive session, the longest stretch of gains since Nov. 4.
India’s phased loosening of restrictions will see malls, restaurants and places of worship reopening as of June 8 after the world’s toughest stay-at-home curbs to stem the Covid-19 pandemic muted economic growth.
“The gradual easing of the lockdown has boosted sentiment,” Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking Ltd., wrote in a note Monday. “The recent surge indicates markets are focusing more on the optimistic side and anticipating a favorable scenario.”
Still, Moody’s Investors Service on Monday reduced the country’s sovereign rating by a notch to the lowest investment grade, which may undermine India’s efforts to attract foreign capital into its debt market to fund a ballooning fiscal gap and avoid the first economic contraction in more than four decades.
India’s rupee strengthened 0.3% to 75.3587 versus the U.S. dollar, while the yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond fell one basis point to 5.76%
The Numbers
- Eighteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by measures of real estate and bank stocks.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. was among the top gainers on the Sensex after the lender’s billionaire founder Uday Kotak sought to raise as much as 69.4 billion rupees ($919 million) in a share sale by disposing of some of his stake.
- Shares in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and ITC Ltd. declined.
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