MUMBAI: The stock market on Monday rose for the second day in row with a 418-point rally in the benchmark BSE Sensex on robust gains in Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank as concerns over US housing loan crisis and domestic political uncertainty eased.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share barometer index settled 417.51 points higher at 14,842.38, after touching its intra-day high at 14,858.93 points. It had opened with a gain of 156 points over Friday's close of 14,424.87.
The broad-based Nifty of National Stock Exchange ended 112.45 points higher at 4,302.60 points.
Both the key indices gained about three per cent each as investors covered short positions ahead of the expiry of August derivatives contract on Thursday.
Besides, indications about dwindling chances of a fall in the government at Centre after the Congress and the Left parties last Friday made moves to defuse the stand-off over the Indo-US nuclear deal also helped boost the sentiments.
On Friday, the markets had bounced back by two per cent on hopes of early resolution of differences over the deal.
Investor sentiments, brokers said, gained on positive overseas trends. Asian markets were broadly on firm ground, taking cues from gains in the US on Friday after strong home sales data there, easing concerns that subprime mortgage crisis would curb growth in the world's biggest economy.
The country's largest lender SBI was the biggest gainer among Sensex blue-chips with a jump of 6.2 per cent, while ICICI Bank and Maruti Udyog gained over five per cent each.
Besides, the country's most valued firm RIL gained 3.3 per cent, along with over three per cent gains in Reliance Communications, HDFC, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Reliance Energy, BHEL and L&T.
