Indian shares ended over a percent higher on Monday, boosted mainly by bank and FMCG stocks. The sentiment was also lifted on hopes of a US stimulus package before the presidential election and expectations of a COVID-19 vaccine by year-end.

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The Sensex ended 449 points higher at 40,432 while the Nifty rose 110 points to settle at 11,873. Broader markets were also in line with the benchmarks with the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices up around 0.7 percent each.

Meanwhile, Broader Asian stocks also rose after drugmaker Pfizer said that it could have a coronavirus vaccine ready in the United States by the end of the year, while US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed optimism that a coronavirus relief package could be pushed through before the election.

Back home, on the Nifty50 index, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Nestle, SBI and GAIL were the top gainers while Divi's Labs, Eicher Motors, Hero Moto, Cipla and Bajaj Auto led the losses.

Among sectors, the Nifty Bank was the top performer, up 3 percent followed by Nifty Fin Services, up 2.5 percent. Nifty Metal and NFMCG also rose 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. However, Nifty Pharma lost 1.5 percent and the Auto and IT indices were also down for the day.

Amber Enterprises shares zoomed over 10 percent on hopes of the domestic manufacturer being the biggest beneficiary from the AC import ban. On October 16, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) came out with a notification to ban imports of ACs with refrigerants. The sentiment was also lifted after the company management told CNBC-TV18 that the move to ban imports of Acs with refrigerants will increase local manufacturing. It added that the demand for ACs is picking up and the business is back at 85-90 percent of pre-COVID levels.

Bankrupt carrier Jet Airways rose as much as 5% to hit the upper circuit in trade after its creditors approved a resolution plan.

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)

First Published:Oct 19, 2020 3:35 PM IST