Nifty at over 15-mth high, Sensex up 104 pts on global cues

 Mumbai, Aug 8 (PTI) Rising for the third straight session, the NSE Nifty closed at an over 15-month high of 8,711.35 and the BSE Sensex jumped over 104 points to 28,182.57 on firm global cues coupled with optimistic buying by investors ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow.

Sentiment remained upbeat throughout the day on account of positive Asian cues and a higher opening in the European stock markets, tracking record closing on the US bourses on Friday on the back of strong jobs data.

The domestic bourses have been witnessing a positive trend since the passage of long-pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment bill by Rajya Sabha last week, brokers said.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the bill in Lok Sabha today.

The broader NSE Nifty again went past the 8,700-mark to end at 8,711.35 by surging 28.20 points, or 0.32 per cent, its highest closing since April 15, 2015 -- when it had closed at 8,750.20.

The 30-share BSE barometer rose 104.22 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at 28,182.57. Intra-day, it shuttled between 28,226.38 and 28,128.06. The Sensex has gained 380.84 points in the last two days.

Brokers said even as the Reserve Bank is expected to keep its policy rates unchanged at its review tomorrow, some investors indulged in building up positions, largely in step with a firm trend overseas, contributing major gains to the key indices.

Moreover, country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp today posting 18.13 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 883.10 crore for the first quarter ended on June 30, 2016, came as a positive.

Out of 30-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks ended higher and 9 finished in the negative terrain.

Major gainers were Adani Ports (2.80 pc), HDFC Ltd (1.70 pc), Reliance Ind (1.49 pc), Dr Reddy's (1.11 pc), Lupin (1.09 pc), Infosys (1.07 pc), M&M (1.03 pc), Power Grid (0.99 pc), Wipro (0.95 pc) and Maruti Suzuki (0.88 pc).