Indian stocks hit all the right notes after a long weekend and remained well above the baseline throughout the day as the Sensex yesterday jumped 214 points ahead of the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy meet. The Nifty also settled above the crucial 9,800-mark.
Interest rate sensitive auto stocks in particular turned favourites on robust sales data for September amid expectations of favourable policy action from the central bank, analysts said. The decision of the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) is due today.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) carried on with buying, which saw the 30-share index settle at 31,497.38, up 213.66 points, or 0.68%. It had advanced 123.91 points in the previous two sessions. 
A similar push helped the broader NSE Nifty touch the 9,800 level again before ending up 70.90 points, or 0.72%, at 9,859.50. The flagship index moved between 9,895.40 and 9,831.05. A monthly PMI survey showed that the manufacturing activity expanded in September for the second month in a row, at 51.2, driven up by increase in output and new orders.
The MPC headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel started the two-day deliberations on Tuesday. The industry and the government are calling for an interest rate cut to spur gross domestic product growth, which fell to a 3-year low of 5.7% in the June quarter.
Firm Asian leads and a higher opening of European markets reflecting a rally on Wall Street, where all three US indices scaled new records following strong economic data, made investors here bite the bait. The deadliest mass shooting in the US history in Las Vegas, however, brought in a sense of caution, traders said.
Tata Motors was at the wheel surging 3.78% to Rs416.40 after it posted 25% growth in vehicle sales in September. Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and M&M rallied up to 1.79%. But Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, fell 1.06% to Rs7,888.50 even as the company recorded 9.3% increase in total sales in September. Asian Paints, RIL, Adani Ports and Tata Steel looked good, climbing up to 2.72%.
The BSE consumer durables index was ahead of the curve, topping the gainers’ chart by rising 2.23%, followed by oil and gas, metal and FMCG. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices made handsome gains.
SBI Life Insurance yesterday made its debut on the BSE at Rs733.30, a premium of 4.75% over its issue price. The stock settled 1.14% up at Rs708. But Reliance Communications plunged 11% after the company called off its merger talks with Aircel due to regulatory hurdles.
DIIs chased shares and bought a net Rs2,064.63 crore. But foreign portfolio investors sold off equities net Rs1,546.86 crore last Friday, showed provisional data.
Meanwhile the rupee yesterday weakened against the US dollar, tracking losses in the Asian currencies market.
The home currency closed at 65.50 against the dollar, down 0.32% from its Friday’s close of 65.28. 
The rupee opened at 65.63 a dollar and touched a low of 65.67. Markets were closed on Monday.
Asian currencies were trading lower as the dollar gained after American factory data released on Monday beat estimates supporting the case for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
Japanese yen was down 0.21%, Singapore dollar 0.15%, Malaysian ringgit 0.1% and South Korean won 0.04%. However, China renminbi was up 0.12% and China offshore 0.07%.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.648%, compared to its previous close of 6.663%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 3.6%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.34bn and $20.07bn in equity and debt, respectively.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.809, up 0.27% from its previous close of 93.559.