Bull run at Dalal Street. The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday higher for the second consecutive session and touched fresh record highs following Q3 GDP amid positive global cues. The S&P BSE Sensex hit a record high of 73,819, while the NSE Nifty50 touched 22,353 during intra-day trading. Eventually, the 30-share Sensex closed at 73,745, up 1,245 points. On the other hand, the Nifty50 ended at 22,339, up 356 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel became the top gainer, up 6.46 per cent, followed by JSW Steel, L&T, Titan, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, were the other gainers. On the down side, HCLTech, Infosys, Sun Pharma, and TechM emerged losers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices advanced about 0.9 per cent.
Sectorwise, Nifty Metal rose 3.7 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank, Private Bank, Auto indices jumped 2 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Media, IT, and Pharma indices declined up to 0.9 per cent.
In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark rose 195 points to end at 72,500, while the Nifty climbed 32 points to 21,982.
"Trading members are requested to note that the exchange will conduct a special live trading session with intraday switch over from Primary Site (PR) to Disaster Recovery Site (DR) on Saturday, March 2, in equity and equity derivatives segments," BSE and NSE said in separate circulars.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled with gains. European markets were trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 3,568.11 crore, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.82 per cent to $82.58 a barrel.
The BSE and NSE will conduct a special trading session in the equity and equity derivative segments on Saturday to check their preparedness to handle major disruption or failure at the primary site. The exchanges said there will be two sessions, the first from 9:15 am to 10 am on the PR, and the second from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on the DR site.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended the day 1 paisa lower at 82.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, influenced by escalating crude oil prices globally and heightened demand for the American currency from importers. Nevertheless, the local currency received support from a surge in equity markets and robust domestic macroeconomic indicators, which curbed its decline, according to forex traders.
Beginning at 82.86, the rupee traded within a narrow range of 82.84 and 82.91 against the greenback at the interbank foreign exchange market. Ultimately, the rupee concluded at 82.90 (provisional) against the dollar, marking a marginal decrease of 1 paisa compared to its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee had strengthened by 2 paise, settling at 82.89 against the US dollar.