Reliance bounces back by 6 pc, Sensex up by 454 pts

Equity benchmark Sensex overcame a wobbly start to close with smart gains on Thursday, propelled by hectic buying in index heavyweight Reliance Industries amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts.

A depreciating rupee, persistent foreign fund outflows and mixed global cues capped the gains, traders said.

Reversing the previous session's losses, the 30-share index ended 454.10 points or 0.78 per cent higher at 58,795.09. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 121.20 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 17,536.25.

Reliance Industries hogged the limelight in the Sensex pack, soaring 6.10 per cent, followed by ITC, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Bank, Titan and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, ICICI Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and L&T were among the laggards, shedding as much as 1.27 per cent.

"Indian markets closed in positive today on the back of short covering ahead of F&O monthly expiry. However, market sentiment is likely to remain weak amid rising inflation and fresh COVID-19 cases in different parts of the world. 

"The Fed's minutes from its latest meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that the central bank was open to speeding up the pace of asset tapering and that could hurt the global market sentiment. However, strong economic data in US and lowest unemployment data in last 52 years have boosted global investors' confidence," said Arijit Malakar, Head Research (Retail) of Ashika Stock Broking. 

Indian markets opened on a mixed note following mixed Asian market cues as investors digested Bank of Korea raising rates along with resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Europe, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

"During the afternoon session market recovered and gained momentum to enter into green terrain. Sentiments were upbeat as Moody's expects India's economic growth to rebound strongly, pegging GDP growth of 9.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent in fiscal year 2022 (ending on 31 March 2022) and fiscal 2023, respectively," he noted.

Sectorally, BSE energy, realty, healthcare, telecom, utilities and oil and gas indices climbed up to 4.47 per cent, while capital goods, auto, bankex and finance closed lower.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.87 per cent.

Global equities were mixed as investors tracked rising coronavirus cases in multiple countries.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.38 per cent to USD 81.94 per barrel. 

The rupee slumped 12 paise to end at 74.52 against the US currency on Thursday amid month-end dollar demand and foreign fund outflows from equity and debt markets.

Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 5,122.65 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.