The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday ended the last day of trade of the 2023-24 fiscal on a bullish note. The domestic indices were driven by heavy buying in power, auto, and banking stocks tracking positive global cues.
The S&P BSE Sensex rallied to a high of 74,190, but eventually ended at 73,651, up 655 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 touched a high of 22,516 and finally settled at 22,327, up 203 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, SBI, M&M, PowerGrid, Nestle emerged top gainers. On the down side, Axis Bank, Reliance, HCLTech, and TechM were the only laggards.
Among specific stocks, Bajaj twins -- Finserv and Finance soared over 3 per cent amid buzz that the later may come out with its housing arm IPO at a valuation of Rs 80,000-85,000 crore.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index advanced 0.6 per cent, while the Smallcap rose 0.3 per cent.
Sectorwise, all the indices closed in the green with auto, healthcare, metal, power, capital goods rose 1 per cent each.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the Sensex closed 526 points up at 72,996, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 22,124, rising 119 points. Stock markets will remain close tomorrow on account of Good Friday holiday.
"Indian equities closed the day and fiscal year on an optimistic note, with volatility by the end of the session, as buying by retails, DIIs, and FIIs surged across categories," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
In the Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong saw gains, while Tokyo and Seoul experienced declines.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 2,170.32 crore on Wednesday.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, rose by 0.42 percent to reach $86.40 a barrel.
Conversely, the Indian rupee weakened by 6 paise to settle at 83.39 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, influenced by a strengthening greenback against major currencies worldwide and escalating crude oil prices in the international markets. Nevertheless, the domestic currency received support from a positive trend in the domestic equity markets and recent foreign fund inflows, as noted by forex traders.
In trading at the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee commenced at 83.32, fluctuating between an intraday high of 83.30 and a low of 83.40 against the US dollar. Ultimately, it settled at 83.39 (provisional), marking a decrease of 6 paise from its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee had dropped by 4 paise to conclude at 83.33 against the US dollar.