Stock Market: Sensex Surges 349 Points, Nifty Ends Above 17,900 On Expiry Day. Realty, IT Gain

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins were the lead gainers, followed by Airtel, Infosys, Kotak Bank, L&T, ITC were among the winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday closed in the green after the indices gained steadily, climbing for the fourth straight day amid fresh foreign fund inflows. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 349 points to settle at 60,649. On the other hand, the Nifty50, meanwhile, jumped 101 points to end the April F&O series at 17,915.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins were the lead gainers, followed by Airtel, Infosys, Kotak Bank, L&T, ITC were among the winners. On the downside, HUL, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, TCS, SBI, Asian Paints emerged losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices advanced in-line with frontline indices, rising 0.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Realty index gained 1.5 per cent, while the Nifty IT index advanced 1 per cent, and the Nifty Auto index rose 0.8 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 170 points higher at 60,301. On the other hand, the Nifty50 shut shop at 17,814, up 44 points.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the green. Equity markets in Europe were trading in the positive territory. The US markets had ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

"The domestic market is gradually shifting towards a positive terrain, supported by FIIs inflows and positive Q4 earnings from banks. On the global front, the US Q1 GDP number which will be unveiled today is anticipated to moderate on a QoQ basis amid concerns over banking contagion and a slowing economy. The next week's FED policy will be keenly monitored," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.40 per cent to $78.07 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,257.48 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 10 paise at 81.84 (provisional) against the US currency on Thursday amid a strong greenback overseas. However, the strong sentiment in the domestic equities market restricted the rupee's fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.69 against the dollar and finally closed at 81.84 (provisional), down 10 paise from its previous close. During the day, the rupee witnessed a high of 81.61 and a low of 81.85 against the greenback. On Wednesday, the rupee closed at 81.74 against the US currency.