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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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
