Sensex revisits 61,000 mark, Nifty above 18k as RIL, ITC stocks shine

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 460 points to reclaim the 61,000 mark while the Nifty closed above the 18k level on Friday, propelled by robust buying in index majors Reliance Industries and ITC amid fresh foreign fund inflows.

Rallying for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 463.06 points or 0.76 per cent to settle at 61,112.44. During the day, it surged 560.08 points or 0.92 per cent to 61,209.46.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 149.95 points or 0.84 per cent to finish at 18,065, with 40 of its scrips ending in the green.

Wipro was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.89 per cent, followed by Nestle, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance.

In contrast, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Titan, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank were the major laggards, skidding up to 2.39 per cent.

IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a marginal year-on-year decline of 0.4 per cent in net profit to Rs 3,074.5 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023 and announced a share buyback of up to Rs 12,000 crore.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 1.32 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.91 per cent.

Among indices, telecommunication jumped 2.44 per cent, capital goods (1.74 per cent), industrials (1.54 per cent), commodities (1.29 per cent), utilities (1.32 per cent), power (1.27 per cent), teck (1.10 per cent) and IT (1.04 per cent).

The consumer Durables index emerged as the only laggard.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.

“Asian stocks rose on Friday as strong corporate earnings lifted sentiments and the Bank of Japan kept rates ultra-low even as it announced a broad review of monetary policy and modified its forward guidance by removing a pledge to keep interest rates at current or lower levels,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US markets ended with significant gains on Thursday.

“European stocks edged lower on Friday after Eurozone GDP data for the first quarter missed expectations while inflation data stirred concerns that eurozone interest rates would have to increase further to stave off price rises,” Jasani said.

The BSE benchmark surged 348.80 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 60,649.38 on Thursday. The Nifty gained 101.45 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 17,915.05.

The rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 3 paise at 81.82 against the US currency on Friday amid a strong greenback overseas.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.45 per cent to $78.72 per barrel.