Sensex soars 965 points, Nifty hits 24,330 as Q1 earnings lift Dalal Street mood

India’s benchmark stock indices ended Friday’s session on a high note, with the Sensex soaring 965 points and the Nifty touching the 24,330 mark. The rally was powered by buying in blue-chip Reliance Industries along with several bank and IT stocks, as strong Q1 earnings updates lifted sentiment on Dalal Street.

A strengthening rupee added to the positive mood, gaining 14 paise to close at 96.3 against the US dollar, even as the broader market remained mostly weak through the day on soft global cues, according to traders.

“There is a shift in market momentum, with strong traction moving towards large-cap stocks, led by the IT and banking sectors,” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments, adding that domestic institutional investors appeared to be rotating out of expensive mid- and small-cap stocks into more attractively valued large caps.

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer among Sensex constituents, up 3.9% after reporting a 28.4% rise in net profit for the June quarter to Rs 1,465 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance also featured among the day’s winners.

Sun Pharma, Trent, Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards, with the commodities, industrials, telecommunication and metal segments dragging on the index. Brent crude rose 1.79% to $85.5 a barrel during the session.

“Indian equity markets ended the week on a strong note, extending their recovery as broad-based buying in heavyweight banking, financial, and IT stocks helped benchmark indices outperform weak global cues,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.

Wikimedia Commons/by Pradeep717