Stock markets rally for 5th day; Sensex jumps 855 pts on buying in banking, IT shares
Mumbai, Apr 21 (PTI): Rallying for the fifth day in a row, benchmark Sensex jumped 855 points to close above the 79,000 mark on heavy buying in banking and IT shares following strong quarterly results and foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 855.30 points or 1.09 per cent to settle at 79,408.50 with 23 of its components ending in green. During the day, it surged 1,081.85 points or 1.37 per cent to 79,635.05.
The NSE Nifty climbed 273.90 points or 1.15 per cent to close at 24,125.55 as 39 of its constituents advanced and 11 declined.
In the five-day rally, Sensex jumped by 5,561.35 points or over 7 per cent and Nifty surged by 1,726.40 points, recouping all the losses triggered by imposition of reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump tariffs on April 2.
Among Sensex scrips, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainers.
Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Asian Paints and Nestle were among the laggards.
HDFC Bank shares climbed over 1 per cent after the leading private lender reported a 7 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter to Rs 18,835 crore.
Infosys shares rallied over 2 per cent after the company's March quarter net profit rose by 3.3 per cent sequentially.
Reliance Industries shares surged nearly 2 per cent which also boosted the rally in benchmark indices.
The BSE midcap gauge surged 2.20 per cent and the smallcap index jumped 1.67 per cent.
On the market rally, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said, "The bulls took over, which led the Nifty to cross 24k in the third attempt over the last 3 months and fuelled Bank Nifty to touch a new high. The possibility of a bilateral trade agreement with the US is adding optimism in the market."
The better results from bank stocks owing to improved asset quality and credit growth attracted investors, analysts said.
"A contrarian bet on IT due to its attractive valuation with an expectation of improvement in spending in the latter half of FY26 is keeping the counter busy. While the dollar index slumps to a three-year low, another layer of uncertainty may attract more FII inflows into the domestic market in the near term," Nair added.
All BSE sectoral indices ended higher, with oil & gas soaring 2.61 per cent, power (2.49 per cent), BSE Focused IT (2.42 per cent), IT (2.31 per cent), realty (2.27 per cent), auto (2.12 per cent) and metal (2 per cent).
As many as 2,918 stocks advanced while 1,168 declined and 161 remained unchanged on the BSE.
In the past five days, the BSE benchmark gauge zoomed 5,561.35 points or 7.53 per cent, and the Nifty surged 1,726.4 points or 7.70 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,667.94 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Shanghai SSE Composite settled in the positive territory while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 ended lower. Markets were closed in Hong Kong.
US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday. Equity markets in the US were closed for 'Good Friday'.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.71 per cent to USD 66.25 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 1,508.91 points or 1.96 per cent to settle at 78,553.20 on Thursday. The Nifty surged 414.45 points or 1.77 per cent to 23,851.65.
Stock markets were closed on Friday for 'Good Friday'.
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PMLA being misused against Oppn, had warned against amendment during UPA govt: Sharad Pawar
Mumbai, May 17 (PTI): NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said he had warned against a stringent provision being introduced in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the UPA regime, and as he predicted, it was later misused when the government changed.
The law must be amended whenever the power at the Centre changes hands again, he said, speaking at the launch of the Marathi book `Narkatla Swarg' (Heaven inside Hell) written by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.
The book is about Raut's experiences in prison after the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in an alleged money laundering case. He later got bail.
When then Union minister P Chidambaram proposed an amendment to the PMLA during the UPA government which put the onus to prove innocence on an arrested person, he, as a cabinet member, warned against it, Pawar said.
"When I read it (Chidambaram's proposal), I told (prime minister) Manmohan Singh it is very dangerous and we should not go ahead with it....I strongly opposed it, saying if the government changes, we will also have to face consequences. But it (the advice) was not heeded," claimed the veteran politician.
"After the government changed, action was taken against Chidambaram and he was arrested. Power was misused," he said, referring to the arrest of the former Union minister by the ED in an alleged money laundering case.
The PMLA is being used by the current BJP-led government to "destroy the entire opposition," said Pawar.
Referring to Raut's book, he said during the UPA regime, nine people (political leaders) were charge sheeted under the PMLA, but none of them was arrested. During the NDA era, action was taken against 19 people, including leaders from Congress, TMC, BJD, undivided Shiv Sena and NCP, RJD, BSP, AAP, TDP, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), AIADMK, DMK and TRS, Pawar added.
Notably, from Pawar's own Nationalist Congress Party, leaders such as Anil Deshmukh, Chhagan Bhujbal and Nawab Malik were arrested in alleged money laundering cases under the PMLA. All of them are now out on bail.
"Whenever people in Maharashtra or in the country bring in a change (in the government), whatever amendments that have been made have to be changed (reversed)," Pawar further said.
TMC MP Saket Gokhale too highlighted on this occasion that under the PMLA, an accused has to prove innocence rather than the investigating agency proving that he or she is guilty.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said India is a federal country and the Centre and states haves equal rights. If the Centre can use agencies like Enforcement Directorate, CBI and Income Tax and laws like the PMLA, then states too should to be empowered to use them, he said.
When even chief ministers like Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) can be arrested by central agencies and top officials like a director general of police and state chief secretary are summoned by the CBI, how can officials function with strings being pulled by the Centre, he asked.
He also criticised the `One Nation One Election' proposal, stating it looks good on the face of it but lacks transparency.
