Sensex Jumps 270 Points, Nifty Crosses 21,990, Rupee Rises 4 Paise

The domestic equity market opened on a high note on Friday. In the early morning trade, the BSE Sensex on Friday jumped 269.04 points to 72,320.11 points, while the NSE Nifty rose 82.40 points to 21,993.15 points. Tracking positive cues from domestic equity markets, the rupee also appreciated by 4 paise to 83.01 against the US dollar in early trade.

Among the 30 shares of the Sensex, 23 companies were trading in the green. The top gainers were Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Maruti, and Hindustan Unilever gaining up to 2.21 per cent. Top losers were PowerGrid, ITC, HCL Tech, Axis Bank and State Bank of India falling up to 1.6 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “The stock market has been range-bound in recent days due to bouts of selling and buying. During the past two days, FIIs sold equity worth Rs 6,993 crore in the cash market, while DIIs bought equity worth Rs 5,173 crore. The trend of FII selling is likely to continue since the 10-year US bond yield is high at 4.24 per cent. The trend of DII buying too is likely to continue since the flows into the DIIs continue to be robust.”

He added that the global market construct continues to be favourable with the mother market US remaining resilient with S&P 500 at record highs.

Pockets of overvaluation in the broader market continue to be a worry. Banking stocks are fairly valued. RIL is strong.

Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research) of Mehta Equities, said, “Market sentiment has significantly improved, reflecting a bullish outlook supported by technical conditions. Bank Nifty’s inclusion in rising sectoral indices, alongside improving asset quality and government focus on fiscal discipline, is notable. Intraday resistance for Bank Nifty is seen at 47100, with Nifty’s crucial resistance at 22000.”

The rupee

The rupee rose 4 paise to 83.01 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, tracking positive cues from domestic equity markets. Forex traders said a strong American currency and elevated crude oil prices, however, weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic currency opened at 83.03 and inched up to 83.01 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a gain of 4 paise from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee settled 3 paise lower at 83.05 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.12 per cent up at 104.32. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.07 per cent lower at USD 82.80 per barrel.