Sensex ends 280 pts higher, Nifty tops 14,800
Mumbai, Mar 23 (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex jumped 280 points on Tuesday following gains in index majors HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries despite a weak trend in global markets.
The 30-share BSE index ended 280.15 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 50,051.44. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 78.35 points or 0.53 per cent to 14,814.75.
UltraTech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, Axis Bank, SBI and Maruti.
On the other hand, ONGC, PowerGrid, ITC, NTPC, M&M and HDFC were among the laggards.
Domestic equities rebounded sharply despite weak global cues mainly supported by sharp recovery in financial stocks, said Binod Modi, Head – Strategy at Reliance Securities.
“The Supreme Court pronounced that waiver of compound interest during loan moratorium should be for all. While there is still ambiguity about who will be bearing the additional burden, the comfort about the possible end of uncertainty about banks’ NPAs led bank stocks to see sharp up-move,” he noted.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with losses in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 3.53 per cent lower at USD 62.34 per barrel.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 per cent to 3,421.88 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.2 per cent to 29,243.44.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1 per cent to 28,586.11. Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc. rose 1 per cent on its first trading day after the company joined the Hong Kong exchange and raised USD 3.1 billion in a share sale.
The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.4 per cent to 3,023.54 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.1 per cent to 6,761.10. New Zealand and Singapore advanced.
