Sensex, Nifty soar over 2 pc as Reliance, HDFC twins gain

Extending the gains for a second day, key stock indices Sensex and Nifty jumped by more than 2 per cent on Wednesday as oil and energy, financials and IT stocks advanced amid reports of diplomatic efforts to end Russia's attack on Ukraine.

The benchmark BSE Sensex opened in the green and further jumped 1,469.64 points or 2.75 per cent to 54,893.73 during the day. It finally settled at 54,647.33, higher by 1,223.24 points or 2.29 per cent, notching up the biggest single-day gain since February 25.

The broader Nifty of the NSE climbed 331.90 points or 2.07 per cent to end at 16,345.35 as 40 of its stocks advanced.

From the 30-share pack, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indusind Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.

Asian Paints was the lead gainer, rising by 5.56 per cent. Reliance Industries soared 5.24 per cent, Bajaj Finserve by 5 per cent and HDFC Bank by 3.29 per cent.

Among IT stocks, Tech Mahindra rose by 2.85 per cent, Infosys by 1.97 per cent, TCS gained close to 1 per cent.

IndusInd Bank spurted by over 4 per cent after the bank said that it has set up a panel to assess the accountability of its staff, if any, in the matter related to disbursal of loans by its microfinance subsidiary BFIL without the consent of customers during March 2020-October 2021.

In contrast, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Tata Steel, Nestle India and Wipro were the laggards.

''D-Street bulls finally held the upper hand on reports suggesting that the Ukrainian President is no longer pressing for NATO membership,'' S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said.

Top diplomats of Russia and Ukraine have agreed to meet in Turkey on Thursday.

''Domestic indices carried forward yesterday’s gains following a clawback in European markets and US futures as smart investors saw value in the current market valuations.

''The domestic market is also reacting positively to exit polls and in anticipation of in-line state election results. In the near term, the domestic market will trade as per the positive or negative surprise in the state election results and global trend,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Aviation stocks were in huge demand on Wednesday's trade as after a two-year hiatus, India will resume regular international flights from March 27. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation zoomed 6.94 per cent and SpiceJet jumped 6.05 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap index jumped 2.37 per cent and the smallcap gauge gained 2.16 per cent.

A total of 2,657 stocks advanced, while 684 declined and 94 remained unchanged.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo settled lower. Stock exchanges in the US closed in the negative territory on Tuesday.

European stocks opened higher while Futures for Wall Street's S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose up to 1 per cent.

''Global markets started to recover on the back of some positive news flows on the Russia-Ukraine front. Crude oil prices also started to cool off from the USD 131 level... Things on the Russia-Ukraine front are still uncertain therefore the market will remain volatile and vulnerable for selling pressure until tension completely eases out,'' Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd said.

On the domestic front, the outcome of the UP election will be an important event for the market, however, it will have an impact for only 1-2 days,'' Meena added.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.22 per cent to USD 126.4 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 8,142.60 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)