Sensex rises 306 pts; Nifty ends at 19,765; IT stocks shine

Indian equity markets staged a smart rebound on Thursday as the headline indices rallied sharply after opening in red for the day. Buying the heavyweight sectors like IT and financials stocks pushed the markets higher.

BSE Sensex rebounded 850 points from day's low to finally settled at 65,982.48, up 306.55 points, or 0.47 per cent from previous close. Nifty50 gained about 200 points during the day but finally settlled 89.75 point, or 0.46 per cent, to end the day at 19,765.20. Broader markets performed in-line with the headline peers are BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose half-a-per cent each.

Markets edged higher and gained nearly half a percent, in continuation of Wednesday’s surge. After the flat start, Nifty maintained a positive tone for most of the day however profit taking in the final hour trimmed the gains, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.

"Nifty tested the target zone of 19,850 in no time after the breakout and we expect a breather now. All sectors are participating in the move on a rotational basis however banking is still not performing on the expected lines. Amid all, we suggest focusing on pockets that are witnessing consistent interest and using intermediate dips to accumulate them," he said.

In the Nifty50 pack, Hero Motocorp gained more than 3 per cent, while Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and LTIMindTree posted similar gains. HCL Technologies, NTPC, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Bajaj Finserv and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise were up more than 2 per cent for the day.

Among the laggards, Axis Bank, Coal India and Adani Enterprises dropped more than a per cent each. Tata Consumer products, ICICI Bank and ITC were down a per cent each.

The Indian market continued its positive resurgence, tracking global gains. Softer than expected US inflation data and easing bond yields has bought optimism that spending will emerge like in technology, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Taking the cues further, IT stocks showed a significant jump in the broader market. The market is sensing that exports based sectors like IT and Pharma could be future winners. While a cut in inflation will also benefit domestic placed staples and consumer sector," he said.

A total of 3,874 shares were traded on BSE on Thursday, of which 2,011 settled with gains. 1,740 stocks ended the session with cuts while 123 shares remained unchanged. During the day, none of the shares hit their upper circuit, whereas only four shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Wockhardt Pharma gained about 14 per cent each, while Mishtann Foods gained about 12 per cent, Pennar Industries rose 11 per cent, while Gufic Biosciences, KPI Green Energy and Apollo Micro Systems were up 10 per cent each.

Among the laggards, PDS, La Opala RG and Kalyan Jewellers India dropped 5 per cent each for the day, while Jyothi Labs, Centrum Capital and Welspun India declined 4 per cent each.

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