Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty reversed early losses to close higher by 0.40 % on today helped by buying in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel amid gains in global equities.
After falling 537.11 points to a low of 56,825.09 in morning trade, the 30-share BSE barometer staged a recovery in afternoon trade and climbed 231.29 points or 0.40 % to settle at 57,593.49. As many as 20 Sensex stocks closed with gains while 10 declined
The broader NSE Nifty recovered 69 points or 0.40 % to settle at 17,222 with 29 of its constituents ending in green.
Bharti Airtel rose the most by 3.4 % among Sensex stocks. Axis Bank rose by 2.13 %, ICICI Bank by 1.59 % and SBI by 1.44 %.
Reliance Industries rose by nearly 1% , helping the barometer recover from losses. IndusInd Bank rose by 1.33 %, Bajaj Finserve by 1.09 % while Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank also advanced.
FMCG major ITC jumped 1.54 % while Hindustan Unilever rose by 1 %. Among losers, Nestle fell the most by 1.83 %, HDFC by 1.58 % and HCL Tech by 1.41 %. Dr Reddy dropped 1.4 %, Asian Paints by 0.64 % and Wipro by 0.59 % due to profit booking.
Shares of multiplex chains PVR and Inox Leisure Ltd spurted after the two companies announced a merger deal to create the country’s largest multiplex chain with over 1,500 screens.
PVR shares rose by 3.06 % to Rs 1,883.50 at close. Inox Leisure Ltd hit the upper circuit limit of Rs 563.60 before closing at Rs 522.90, up by 11.33 % over the previous close.
“Benchmark indices reversed early morning losses on positive global cues,” according to S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities.
“Even though the Ukraine war and the consequent crude spike impacted markets initially, the war is not impacting markets much now. The major headwinds for markets in 2022 will continue to be the high US inflation and Fed tightening,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap index declined 0.53% and midcap gauge dipped 0.40 %.
“Markets once again witnessed sideways movement but finally managed to end on a higher note because of sharp gains in banking and oil & gas stocks,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
Among BSE sectoral indices, oil and & gas (up 1.07 %), bank (1.01 %), energy (0.97 %) and telecom (0.73 % were the major gainers.
“Mixed global cues combined with a lack of any domestic trigger are causing volatile swings in the index. However, the rotational buying in select index majors is helping the benchmark to hold at higher levels,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Equity exchanges in Tokyo and Seoul settled lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai ended higher. Stock exchanges in the US also ended on a mixed note on Friday.
European markets were trading with gains as investors weigh the developments of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 3.46 % to USD 116.3 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,507.37 crore on Friday, according to the stock exchange data.
