Stock markets rise for 7th day; Sensex reclaims 80k-level on rally in IT shares, FII inflows
Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI): Stock markets extended the winning run to seventh day on Wednesday with benchmark BSE Sensex jumping 520 points to close above 80,000 level for the first time in four months driven by strong gains in IT and auto shares.
The 30-share Sensex rose by 520.90 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 80,116.49, the highest closing level since December 18. During the day, it surged 658.96 points or 0.82 per cent to 80,254.55.
The NSE Nifty rallied 161.70 points or 0.67 per cent to 24,328.95.
Foreign fund inflows and positive global trends also boosted the market sentiment, analysts said.
Among the Sensex firms, HCL Tech surged the most by 7.72 per cent after the firm posted an 8.1 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,307 crore for March quarter 2024-25, mainly on account of large deals with a total contract value of about Rs 25,500 crore.
Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Maruti were also among major gainers.
Banking shares witnessed a sell-off after recent sharp gains with leading private lender HDFC Bank dropping by 1.98 per cent to emerge as the biggest loser among Sensex shares.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ITC and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the positive territory. Shanghai SSE Composite ended marginally lower.
Markets in Europe were trading significantly higher.
US markets bounced back sharply on Tuesday. Nasdaq Composite surged 2.71 per cent, Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.66 per cent and S&P 500 rallied 2.51 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,290.43 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
"The Indian equity market sustained its positive momentum, driven by better outcome from the latest set of IT results and optimistic forward-looking comments. However, profit-booking was visible in financials after the recent sharp rally.
"While US-China trade tensions appear to be easing, a rally in US tech stocks has further bolstered overall global market sentiment," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.94 per cent and smallcap index went up by 0.26 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT surged 4.25 per cent, IT jumped 4 per cent, teck (3.10 per cent), auto (2.34 per cent), realty (1.37 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.02 per cent), healthcare (0.96 per cent) and industrials (0.84 per cent).
Financial Services, bankex and consumer durables were the laggards.
As many as 2,078 stocks advanced while 1,873 declined and 155 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.35 per cent to USD 68.35 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark climbed 187.09 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 79,595.59 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 41.70 points or 0.17 per cent to 24,167.25.
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High-level inquiry committee set up to probe fire in Rajdhani Express: Railway Board
New Delhi (PTI): The West Central Railway Zone has constituted a high administrative grade-level inquiry committee to investigate the fire on the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express on Sunday.
The fire erupted at 5.15 am in the B-1 passenger coach of the train between Vikramgarh Alot and Lunirichha stations under the Kota Railway division, one-and-a-half hours after it left the Ratlam Junction in Madhya Pradesh, according to an official. The fire also damaged the luggage brake and generator car behind the coach.
"The committee has been nominated by the general manager of West Central Railway (WCR). It comprises senior officers from the West Central Railway, Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, and RDSO (Research Designs and Standards Organisation)," the Railway Board said in a press note.
"Principal chief safety officer, WCR, has been appointed as the convener of the committee," it said, also mentioning other committee members such as principal chief electrical engineer, principal chief mechanical engineer, principal chief security officer from the WCR zone, and principal chief mechanical engineer from the Integrated Coach Factory, among others.
As per the provisions of the Accident Manual, the committee has been directed to complete the inquiry within the stipulated timeframe.
The Board stated that the committee will conduct a detailed examination of the causes of the incident, technical aspects and safety parameters so as to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.
"Indian Railways remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of passengers and is taking all necessary measures in this regard," it added.
