Sensex, Nifty extend gains for 2nd day

Extending gains for the second straight session, the benchmark Sensex jumped 255 points on Friday amid expectations of measures from the Centre to revive economic growth and address tax-related concerns.

Reports of a meeting between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to put together a package to boost investor sentiment lifted market sentiment as well, said traders.

After rallying 480 points during the day, the Sensex settled 254.55 points or 0.68 per cent higher at 37,581.91. It hit an intra-day high of 37,807.55 and low of 37,406.26.

The broader Nifty jumped 77.20 points or 0.70 per cent to 11,109.65. During the day, it hit a high of 11,181.45 and a low of 11,062.80.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Vedanta, the HDFC twins, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI bank, which surged up to 3.36 per cent.

On the other hand, YES Bank was the biggest laggard, cracking 7.91 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ITC and Sun Pharma, too, fell up to 2.50 per cent.

According to experts, expectations of multiple measures from the government to revive economic growth after Sitharaman and finance ministry officials met captains of the industry on Thursday led the rally in domestic equities.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Kospi and Nikkei ended on a mixed note.

Equities in Europe were trading in the red in their respective early sessions.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to 70.81 against the dollar in intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, had risen 0.73 per cent to ~57.80 per barrel.