Domestic stock markets were strong in mid-morning deals on Monday, as the country remained in the third phase of a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex index jumped as much as 2.08 per cent – or 658.88 points – to touch 32,301.58 during the session, having started the day up 387.64 points at 32,030.34. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark rose to as high as 9,439.90 in intraday trade, after opening at 9,348.15 as against its previous close of 9,251.50.

At 10:30 am, the Sensex traded 431.42 points – or 1.35 per cent – higher at 32,081.32 while the Nifty was up 130.10 points – or 1.41 per cent – at 9,383.35.

All the Nifty sectoral indices traded in the green, with the exception of the Nifty PSU Bank index. Automobile and metal stocks led the gains.

Top percentage gainers in the Nifty basket of 50 components at the time were Tata Motors, HeroMoto Corp, Maruti Suzuki India, Zee Enterprises and Bajaj Auto, trading between 3.3 per cent and 5.7 per cent higher. On the other hand, BPCL, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Nestle and SBI lost up to 2 per cent each, on the Nifty.

On the sectoral front, auto and metal were the leading performers of the day. In the auto and auto ancillary space, Motherson Sumi, Tata Motors, HeroMoto Corp, Maruti Suzuki India and Bajaj Auto gained up to 6 per cent each. And in the metal space, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Vedanta gained up to 4 per cent each.

On the stock-specific front, ICICI Bank shares fell as much as 2.6 per cent to Rs 338 on the NSE, after the private sector lender reported its earnings for the January-March Period. ICICI Bank posted a net profit of Rs 1,221.36 crore for the quarter ended March 31, up 26.04 per cent compared to the corresponding period a year ago.

Reliance Industries gained 2.1 per cent at Rs 1,594, extending the 5 per cent gains witnessed in the previous session, after the oil-to-telecom conglomerate fixed May 14 as the record date for the country’s biggest rights issue.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined as much as 0.29 per cent to 75.77 against the dollar on Monday.

On the economic front, the government will release data on consumer inflation for April and industrial production for the previous month on Tuesday. On Wednesday, official data on wholesale inflation will be released.