The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty on Thursday closed higher in a volatile session amid buying in select financials, metals, and power stocks and in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an intraday low of 69,920, closed at 70,865, up 359 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 ended at 21,255, up 105 points. The index hit an intraday low of 20,976.80.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Reliance, NTPC, SBI were among the gainers. On the down side, Bajaj twins, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, M&M, Maruti, ICICI Banks emerged losers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed 1.6 per cent and 1.69 per cent, respectively.
Sectorwise, all the indices ended in the green zone, led by the Nifty Media (up 2.6 per cent), the Nifty Metal (1.66 per cent), and the Nifty PSU Bank (1.68 per cent).
"After a subdued start, the market reversed from the day’s low amid buy-on-dips strategy. However, the overall trend is subdued, FIIs stayed muted ahead of festive break and global market traded on a negative note ahead of announcement of the US GDP data today," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex settled at 70,506, down 931 points, while the NSE Nifty50 ended at 21,150, down 303 points.
Meanwhile, the rupee fell by 9 paise to settle at 83.27 against the US dollar on Thursday as withdrawal of foreign funds amid concerns over global trade disruption through the Red Sea route dented investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.19 and traded between the peak of 83.18 and the lowest level of 83.28 against the dollar during intra-day deals.
It settled at 83.27 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the domestic currency settled at 83.18 against the dollar.