Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex spurted by over 200 points for the second straight day on Friday on across-the-board buying by participants as Asian markets cheered a historic summit between North and South Korea.
The 30-share Sensex rallied over 256 points to end at a near 3-month high of 34,969.70, while the broader Nifty advanced 74.50 points to 10,692.30 as the May derivatives series got off to a strong start. The key indices gained for the fifth week in a row -- their longest winning streak in a year. The Sensex surged 554.12 points, or 1.61 percent, while the Nifty gained 128.25 points, or 1.21 percent, during this week.
Most Asian markets ended higher after the leaders of the two Koreas held a landmark summit today and agreed to pursue a permanent peace and complete denuclearisation of the divided peninsula. Back home, financial stocks led by Axis Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank hogged the limelight, rising by up to about 9 percent.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained nearly 2 percent ahead of its results. Meanwhile, global credit rating agency Fitch today affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with 'stable' outlook, saying that the country's medium-term growth potential is strong. 'BBB-' rating indicates lowest investment grade.
The 30-stock Sensex opened positive and rallied to reclaim the 35,000-mark, touching the session's high of 35,065.37. However, profit-booking at some counters trimmed the gains as the gauge settled 256.10 points or 0.74 percent higher at 34,969.70 -- a level last seen on February 2 when it had concluded at 35,066.77.
The index had rallied 212.33 points in the previous session on the back of strong earnings amid positive global cues. The NSE Nifty, after hitting a high of 10,719.80, closed at 10,692.30, up 74.50 points, or 0.70 percent. It touched a low of 10,647.55.
"Market edged higher owing to strong global market rally while good set of quarterly earnings lifted investors sentiment. The current rally outpaced the headwinds from rising oil price and rupee volatility. PSU bank outperformed on account of short covering while IT index witnessed profit booking after earnings led rally. US 10 year bond yield slid below 3 percent marked by ease in geopolitical tensions supporting global market sentiments," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Axis Bank emerged the top performer among Sensex constituents by surging 8.97 percent even as the company yesterday reported a net loss of Rs 2,188.74 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
Reliance Industries zoomed to hit an all-time high of Rs 1,010.70 before ending 1.99 percent higher at Rs 994.75 ahead of its earnings. Other prominent gainers included SBI, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, L&T, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports, Dr Reddy's, Infosys, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid and ITC Ltd.
Maruti Suzuki fell 1.90 percent even as the country's largest car maker today reported a 10 percent rise in net profit to Rs 1,882.1 crore for the March quarter. Other laggards included TCS, Wipro, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank and ONGC.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 684.11 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded to the tune of Rs 1,056.34 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed. The broader markets too displayed a firm trend as the BSE mid-cap index rose 0.79 percent and the small-caps gained 0.42 percent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, capital goods rose 1.40 percent, PSU 1.25 percent, oil and gas 1.05 percent, healthcare 0.75 percent, metal 0.61 percent, realty 0.37 percent, infrastructure 0.24 percent, auto 0.24 percent and FMCG 0.24 percent. However, IT, tech and consumer durables ended in the red on profit-booking.
Globally, the Dow on Thursday extended its gains a day after breaking 20,000 for the first time. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.66 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.91 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index moved up 0.23 percent. European indices too were trading higher in their early deals. Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.66 percent, while Paris CAC 40 inched up 0.04 percent. London's FTSE gained 0.10 percent.
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