Domestic equity indices ended Thursday’s session on a positive note, driven by value buying in IT, metal, and PSU bank stocks. The pharma sector also received strong support after the Donald Trump administration clarified that it does not plan to impose tariffs on generic drug imports from overseas. The Nifty Pharma index surged 228 points, or 1.05 per cent, during the session.
The Sensex closed at 82,172.10, up 398.44 points, or 0.49 per cent. The 30-share index opened higher at 81,900, compared with the previous day’s close of 81,773.66, and gained momentum to touch an intraday high of 82,247.73 amid broad-based buying. The Nifty ended at 25,181.80, up 135 points, or 0.54 per cent.
Top gainers from the Sensex basket included Tata Steel, HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement, BEL, Sun Pharma, Eternal, Trent, TCS, Kotak Bank, L&T, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, and NTPC. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Titan, and HDFC Bank closed lower.
Sectoral indices mostly ended in green amid value buying. Nifty Fin Services rose 67 points (0.25 per cent), Nifty Bank gained 173 points (0.31 per cent), Nifty Auto increased 64 points (0.24 per cent), Nifty FMCG climbed 217 points (0.40 per cent), and Nifty IT surged 396 points (1.12 per cent).
The broader market followed the uptrend, with Nifty Smallcap 100 jumping 109 points (0.61 per cent), Nifty Midcap 100 surging 563 points (0.97 per cent), and Nifty 100 rising 139.80 points (0.54 per cent).
The rupee traded flat at 88.76, showing limited volatility as FII selling eased and crude prices remained range-bound.
Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities noted, “However, the currency continues to hover near lower levels, keeping concerns of further depreciation, potentially toward the 90 mark if global sentiment weakens. The focus for the next couple of days will be on Fed Chair Powell’s speech and key U.S. data on unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, which could drive sharp volatility in the forex market.”
–IANS