Markets see best day in over 2 weeks led by RIL, IT stocks
Heavyweight RIL rose for a third session and settled at a record high
BENGALURU: Markets marked their best session since April 4 on Thursday, buoyed by sharp gains in conglomerate Reliance Industries and beaten-down information technology stocks, while automakers climbed to two-month highs.
The NSE Nifty 50 index jumped 1.49% to 17,392.6, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.53% to 57,911.68.
The indexes are still down marginally for the month on worries around the Ukraine crisis, surging inflation and a rout in technology stocks following weak earnings from Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.
The Nifty Auto index was the best performing sub-index, climbing 2.2%. Top carmaker Maruti Suzuki advanced 2.8%, while truckmaker Eicher Motors surged 4.5%.
Heavyweight Reliance rose for a third session and settled at a record high. Morgan Stanley raised its target price on the conglomerate’s stock earlier this week and said that it expects up to a 10% boost to the company’s net asset value in anticipation of quicker hydrogen monetization.
Three-wheeler maker Atul Auto surged 11.7% after saying its unit will partner with Valeo and Honda Power Pack Energy India for electric vehicles with battery swapping solution.
IT services provider HCL Technologies was up 0.9% ahead of its quarterly results.
The Nifty IT index, which plunged to eight-month lows earlier this week, closed 1.4% higher.
Steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power slid 2.9% after reports that India’s federal financial crime fighting agency had raided its offices over suspected violation of foreign exchange regulations.
As many as 2,303 stocks advanced, while 1,115 declined and 103 remained unchanged during the intraday trade on Thursday.
Among BSE sectoral indices, auto jumped the most by 2.14 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary goods and services (1.60%), finance (1.54%), industrials (1.45%) and IT (1.45%). Metal index was the only laggard.
World equities maintained their upward trajectory, supported by a dip in US Treasury yields, even as the Fed’s anticipated rate hikes, inflationary pressures and Ukraine crisis remained on investors’ radar.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo and Seoul settled in the green, while Hong Kong and Shanghai ended lower. Markets in Europe were trading mostly higher in the afternoon session. Stocks in the US had ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 1.40% to $108.3 per barrel.
The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at 76.15 (provisional) against the US dollar amid a weak greenback overseas.
Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth a net ₹3,009.26 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.