Sensex rallies over 1,000 points, Nifty 50 nears 17,000

MUMBAI: The equity benchmark Sensex surged more than 1,000 points on Wednesday to reclaim the 56,000-level, boosted by intense buying in IT, and banking and financial stocks amid growing hope of a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

Strong global cues also propped up the domestic indices, traders said.

The 30-share Sensex closed 1,039.80 points or 1.86% higher at 56,816.65. The NSE Nifty jumped 312.35 points or 1.87% to end at 16,975.35.

Ultratech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex, rising nearly 5%, followed by Axis

Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, and Bajaj Finance.

Sun Pharma and PowerGrid were the laggards in the index.

Global shares rose on Wednesday, led by a 9% surge in Hong Kong’s benchmark index after Chinese leaders promised more support for the slowing Chinese economy, while investors awaited the outcome of a meeting of the Federal Reserve.

In Asia, apart from Hong Kong, bourses in Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai also closed with healthy gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading significantly higher in mid-session deals. France’s CAC 40 jumped 3% to 6,543.96, while Germany’s DAX added 2.9% to 14,315.13. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1% to 7,246.72. The future for Dow industrials was up 1.1% and the S&P 500 future gained 1.3%.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has said there is possible room for compromise in talks with Russia, even as the Russian forces intensified their bombardment of

Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Russia’s demands were becoming more realistic. Both the countries are likely to hold talks again on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Brent crude rose 2.94% to $102.85 per barrel. Oil has shed more than 20% in a tumultuous past week of trading that has seen wild price fluctuations and historic volatility.

“The crude price plunge appears to be over now that Russian President Putin ended whatever positive momentum was building towards a ceasefire,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “Putin’s comment’s could be posturing, but for now energy traders need to close out their bearish oil trades,” Moya said.

A resurgence of Covid-19 in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, posed risks to to global demand.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out ₹1,249.74 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data.

HOPES OF A STEP FORWARD IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE TALKS, GLOBAL CUES PROPPED UP THE MARKETS