Sensex Rises 216 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,500; PSBs, Metals, Energy Lead

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading in the green, up to 0.35 per cent higher

New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday climbed marginally after tracking gains in index majors and amid sharp decline in global crude oil prices.

At 10.15 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 216 points to 58,785, while the NSE Nifty was trading at 17,537, up 74 points.

Among the Sensex-30 shares, NTPC, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, M&M, HDFC Bank, and Reliance were the top gainers, up to 4 per cent higher. Meanwhile, BPCL, Coal India, UPL and ONGC were the additional Nifty gainers.

On the flipside, Infosys, HDFC, Titan, Ultratech Cement, Dr Reddy's, Nestle, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Tech M, and SBI Life were the top losers, down up to 2.6 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading in the green, up to 0.35 per cent higher.

Sectorally, Nifty PSBs, Metals, Energy, and Realty indices were the leading winners, up between 0.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty IT, and Auto were the only losers.

Among stocks, Hero MotoCorp slipped over 5 per cent after the I-T dept found that the company has siphoned off Rs 800 crore through shell firms.  

On Thursday, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined by 115.48 points to 58,568.51. The Nifty went lower by 33.50 points to settle at 17,464.75.

Elsewhere in Asia, exchanges in Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong were trading lower during mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the green.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a negative note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude tumbled 4.88 per cent to $107.91 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.

For 2021-22, the BSE Sensex jumped 9,059.36 points or 18.29 per cent while the Nifty rallied 2,774.05 points or 18.88 per cent.

"As we begin the new financial year markets are in uncertain territory. Globally the major headwinds for equity markets are declining liquidity, persistently high inflation in the US and an increasingly hawkish Fed. On the positive side, the negative real returns from fixed income are prompting the increasing tribe of retail investors to pour more money into equity. This strong new trend which is very conspicuous in India has the potential to keep the markets resilient even in the midst of the uncertainty caused by the Ukraine war," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services told the PTI.