Closing Bell: Sensex Jumps 157 Points, Nifty Reclaims 17,500 Led By ITC, Reliance, L&T

The domestic benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses for most part of the day owing to volatility as weekly index futures and options expired

The BSE at Dalal Street in Mumbai

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the key Indian equity benchmarks, gained for the third day in a row after a rollercoaster intra-day ride on Thursday, led by index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, ITC, L&T, Infosys, Asian Paints, and others.   

According to market watchers, the benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses for most part of the day owing to volatility as weekly index futures and options expired.

The Sensex ended 157 points higher at 58,807 and Nifty 50 index advanced 47 points to close at 17,517.

ITC was the major gainer among the Sensex 30 stocks. The stock soared 5 per cent to Rs 236 after the company said it would hold its ‘Institutional Investors and Financial Analysts Day’ on Tuesday, December 14. The stock was up for the third straight trading session on Thursday. Larsen & Toubro rallied 3 per cent.

On the other hand, HDFC Bank slipped 1.7 per cent. Titan, Nestle India, and NTPC were the other notable losers.

Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research told Reuters, “Worries on the inflation front are definitely weighing on the banking stocks today, considering they could react sharply to inflation data.”

According to market analysts, weekly expiry of index futures and option contracts added to volatility. The Sensex fell as much as 220 points to 58,436 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,405 during early trade.

Shares of Vodafone Idea soared 15 per cent to Rs 16.5 after the company said its bondholders will receive interest in time on the due date of December 13 as the company managed to raise funds for the repayment.

C E Info Systems was fully subscribed on the first day of the issue itself. The IPO received bids up to 1.37 times the issue size. Retail quota was subscribed 2.5 times. Shriram Properties also got fully subscribed on the second day of the offer. Total subscription stood at 1.41 times. The retail quota was subscribed 7.35 times. RateGain Travel Technologies was subscribed 13.14 times on its final day of the issue. The retail quota was subscribed 6.9 times and QIBs portion was subscribed 5.06 times. There was heavy demand for the NIIs (wealthy investors) quota, subscribed up to 33.8 times.