Stock Market Today: Sensex Rises Over 100 Points; Nifty Above 22,250. Media Index Up 1%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, Titan, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Reliance emerged gainers. Asian Paints, Airtel, NTPC, JSW Steel, SBI, ITC were among the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday are trading in the green as IT shares extended gains amid a global rally boosting investor sentiments. At 12.30 pm, the BSE Sensex was jumped 107 points to 73,265. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 22,253, up 35 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, Titan, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Reliance emerged gainers. On the down side, Asian Paints, Airtel, NTPC, JSW Steel, SBI, ITC were among the losers.

In the broader indices, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap rose around 0.5 per cent each.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 73,158, up 535 points, while the NSE Nifty50 ended at 22,217, up 162 points.

Sectorally, Nifty Media rose over a per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank index was the worst hit.

In a continuation of the global equities rally, Asian stocks experienced significant gains on Friday, according to Deepak Jasani, the Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities. The surge in Asian markets followed a trend seen across the US, Europe, and Japan, where share markets have been hitting all-time highs. Japan's benchmark index Nikkei 225 notably surged by more than 2 per cent, reflecting the positive momentum in the region.

Jasani pointed out that the surge in Asian stocks was propelled by the robust performance of US stocks on Thursday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indexes set new records, with the Nasdaq narrowly missing its own record close since 2021. This surge in US markets came after Nvidia Corp reported exceptional earnings, boosting optimism and driving global markets higher.

However, in the domestic market, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net sellers on Thursday, offloading securities worth Rs 1,410.05 crore.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee maintained a steady stance against the US dollar in early trading on Friday, standing at 82.85 amid concerns over foreign fund outflows and volatile crude oil prices in the international market. Despite these challenges, positive sentiment in the equity markets and weakness in the American currency provided some support to the domestic unit, as noted by forex traders.

In interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.87 and slightly appreciated to the previous day's closing level of 82.85 against the US dollar. The rupee had gained 11 paisa to close at 82.85 against the US dollar on Thursday, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains since February 15, when it closed at 83.05 against the dollar.