Sensex, Nifty spurt over 1 pc to close over 3-month high, extend rally to 3rd straight day

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty spurted over 1 per cent to close at over three-month high levels on Friday following buying in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC twins.

Extending the rally to a third straight day, the 30-share BSE barometer jumped 712.46 points or 1.25 per cent to settle at 57,570.25 -- the highest closing level since April 25. During the day, it rallied 761.48 points or 1.33 per cent to a high of 57,619.27.

The broader NSE Nifty rallied 228.65 points or 1.35 per cent to end at 17,158.25 with 43 of its shares closing in the green.

Analysts said better quarterly results, FII buying and expectations that the US Fed may temper its aggressive interest rate hikes boosted investor sentiment.

"In India, the big positive for the market is FIIs reducing their selling substantially and even turning buyers for 8 days this month. The expected outperformance of financials has played out well. Q1 results indicate improving prospects for this segment," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Tata Steel jumped 7.27 per cent to emerge as the biggest Sensex gainer.

Sun Pharma spurted 5.45 per cent, Bajaj Finserv by 2.64 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 2.52 per cent, Asian Paints by 2.38 per cent and Infosys by 2.12 per cent.

Reliance Industries rose by 2.1 per cent amid gains in global crude oil prices.

HDFC gained 1.85 per cent after it posted a 22 per cent rise in Q1 profit on a higher income driven by robust loan disbursements.

Bajaj Finance, Wipro, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Nestle, M&M, TCS,  and HDFC Bank were among the 25 Sensex gainers.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's fell the most by 3.96 per cent while Kotak Bank, SBI, ITC and Axis Bank closed down.

"Wall Street staged a robust recovery after a shaky opening due to a contraction in the US economy, as the market perceived that aggressive monetary policy will soon come to an end. This added optimism in the domestic market, and the rupee strengthened against the dollar increasing appetite for FIIs," said  Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.38 per cent and midcap index climbed 1.01 per cent.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the green, with metal climbing the most by 4.59 per cent, followed by energy (2.41 per cent), basic materials (2.30 per cent), oil & gas (2.21 per cent), IT (1.71 per cent), teck (1.68 per cent) and consumer durables (1.47 per cent).

In Asia, markets in Seoul ended higher, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower amid growth concerns.

Markets in Europe were trading in the green during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended higher on Thursday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.92 per cent to USD 109.2 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors became net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 1,637.69 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.