Sensex, Nifty zoom over 2% on gains in Reliance, HDFC twins

Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty surged by more than 2% on March 9 on gains in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and HDFC twins as investors looked at diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened in the green and further jumped 1,469.64 points or 2.75% to 54,893.73 during the day. It finally settled at 54,647.33, higher by 1,223.24 points or 2.29%.

The broader NSE Nifty climbed 331.90 points or 2.07% to end at 16,345.35.

From the 30-share pack, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries Limited, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indusind Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers, jumping up to 5.56%.

Asian Paints was the lead gainer among Sensex stocks, rising by 5.56%. Reliance Industries soared 5.24%, Bajaj Finserve by 5% and HDFC Bank by 3.29%.

In contrast, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Tata Steel, Nestle India and Wipro were the laggards.

Aviation stocks were in huge demand on Wednesday’s trade as after a two-year hiatus, India will resume regular international flights from March 27. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation zoomed 6.94% and SpiceJet jumped 6.05%.

“Domestic indices carried forward yesterday’s gains following a clawback in European markets and U.S. futures as smart investors saw value in the current market valuations.

“The domestic market is also reacting positively to exit polls and in anticipation of in-line state election results. In the near term, the domestic market will trade as per the positive or negative surprise in the state election results and global trend,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo settled lower. Stock exchanges in the US closed in the negative territory on Tuesday.

European stocks opened higher while Futures for Wall Street’s S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose up to 1%.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.22% to $126.4 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth ₹8,142.60 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.