Sensex, Nifty End Higher Helped By Gains Among Index Heavyweights

Equity benchmark Sensex surged 454 points on Thursday spearheaded by gains in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Infosys, ITC, Kotak Mahindra and Bharti Airtel alongside the expiry of November futures and options contracts. The 30-share index ended the day 454.10 points or 0.78 per cent higher at 58,795.09. Nifty closed 121.20 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 17,536.25.

Reliance emerged as the top gainers on the Sensex soaring over 6 per cent followed by ITC, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid. Maruti, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Uniliver and Larsen & Turbo were among the laggards. 

Even though the markets opened lower but the benchmark indices managed to recover in the afternoon. Further, ratings agency Moody's upbeat GDP forecast for India helped the cause. The ratings agency said it expected India's economic growth would rebound strongly with GDP expanding 9.3 per cent in the current fiscal and 7.9 per cent in 2023. It added that the recent spike in India's vaccination rate, lower interest rates and higher public spending drive the positive outlook for the country's corporate sector. (Full Story)

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark, Brent crude slipped 0.38 per cent to $81.94/barrel. 

Further, the rupee closed 12 paise lower at 74.52 against the dollar on Thursday. This was amid month-end dollar demand and foreign fund outflows from equity and debt markets. The currency rose to an intra-day high of 74.47 and fell to an intra-day low of 74.58 against the dollar before closing 12 paise lower than the previous day's close. On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 74.40.