Stock markets rise for 3rd day, Sensex jumps 484.53 pts on gains in banking, oil shares
Mumbai (PTI): Benchmark Sensex spurted by 484 points and Nifty closed at a 52-week high on Friday, extending their winning run to the third consecutive day on buying in blue-chip banking and oil shares and foreign fund inflows.
In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 484.53 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 83,952.19, a level not seen since June 27. During the day, it surged 704.58 points or 0.84 per cent to 84,172.24.
The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 124.55 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at a 52-week high of 25,709.85.
Among Sensex firms, Asian Paints jumped the most by 4.18 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries were also among the gainers.
However, Infosys, HCL Tech, Eternal, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel were among the laggards.
"The Indian markets ended the week on a strong footing, with both the Nifty-50 and Bank Nifty surging past their key psychological resistance levels amid sustained institutional participation and broad-based buying interest. Despite a mixed global backdrop, domestic sentiment remained firm, supported by strength in financials, autos, and FMCG stocks," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.49 per cent and midcap index dipped 0.43 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, consumer durables climbed 1.48 per cent, FMCG (1.19 per cent), auto (0.59 per cent), healthcare (0.50 per cent), bankex (0.48 per cent), telecommunication (0.36 per cent) and financial services (0.31 per cent) were the gainers.
However, BSE Focused IT, IT, commodities, teck, industrials, metal and services were among the laggards.
On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,451.37 points or 1.75 per cent, and the Nifty surged 424.5 points or 1.67 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments said, "The market has continued its upward momentum, reaching a new 52-week high, largely driven by consumption-oriented stocks, anticipating improved volume growth. Inline earnings from banks and signs of easing asset quality stress have bolstered overall industry optimism.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 997.29 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth Rs 4,076.20 crore in the previous trade.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi settled in the positive territory while Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.
Markets in Europe were trading sharply lower. US markets ended lower on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.92 per cent to USD 60.50 a barrel.
On Thursday, the Sensex jumped 862.23 points or 1.04 per cent to settle at 83,467.66. The Nifty surged 261.75 points or 1.03 per cent to 25,585.30.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
