Equity indices marched higher for the third session on the trot on Thursday, propelled by Reliance Industries and financial stocks, amid a positive trend in global markets on prospects of a Brexit trade deal.
A sharp jump in the rupee and persistent foreign fund inflows added to the momentum here, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 529.36 points or 1.14% to 46,973.54. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 148.15 points or 1.09% to 13,749.25.
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Axis Bank topped the Sensex gainers chart, spurting 3.04%, followed by Sun Pharma, ONGC, Reliance Industries, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Bank. Index heavyweights RIL, HDFC and HDFC Bank accounted for more than half of the Sensex’’s gains.
However, Infosys, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy’’s, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv were laggards, dropping up to 1.32%. Global equities extended gains as the U.K. and the European Union neared a Brexit deal ahead of the Christmas weekend, cheering participants.
“This has been a short but eventful week with wide gyration in stock prices,” said Rusmik Oza, executive VP and head, Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities.
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“Monthly expiry has also contributed to the higher volatility. Nifty’s closing near the previous week high indicates strong rollovers on the back of healthy FII flows seen this month. This week has seen moderation in flows from both FIIs and DIIs. We can expect FII activity to pick up sharply from the first week of January,” he said.
The rupee rose 21 paise to 73.55 against the U.S. dollar.