Benchmark domestic equity indices today maintained their positive trend amid buying across all sectors and the release of key earnings reports. The broader market indices at BSE also ended in positive territory.
The 30-share index at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, surged 741 points, or 0.97 percent, to close at 77,500. Similarly, the National Stock Exchange Nifty-50 soared 259 points, or 1.11 percent, to settle at 23,508. In the Forex market, the rupee today ended marginally up to settle at 86 rupees and 61 paise against the US dollar. In the Indian Bullion Market, 24 Karat Gold was trading at 82,300 rupees per 10 grams, while Silver 999 Fine was trading at 94,250 rupees per kilogram a short while ago. Brent Crude was trading at 76 dollars and 58 cents per barrel, and WTI Crude was trading at around 72 dollars and 51 cents per barrel when reports last came in.
After scaling the intra-day high of 77,549.92, the BSE Sensex settled at 77,500.57, up 740.76 points or 0.97 per cent from its previous close.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 ended higher by 258.90 points or 1.11 per cent at 23,508.40 levels. The index traded in the range of 23,530.70-23,277.40 today.
The day ended in favour of the bulls as 47 constituent stocks of Nifty50 ended higher, led by Tata Consumer, Bharat Electronics, Trent, Larsen & Toubro, and Coal India with gains of up to 6.24 per cent. Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, ITC Hotels, and ICICI Bank were among the Nifty50 constituent stocks that were the top laggards with losses extending up to 0.82 per cent.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 indices ending higher 1.89 per cent, and 2.11 per cent, respectively. All the sectoral indices ended higher, led by Nifty FMCG, and Consumer Durables, which settled with gains of 2.04 per cent and 2.44 per cent, respectively. Among others, Nifty Auto, PSU Bank, Realty, Metal, OMCs, and select Financial Services indices ended higher by over 1 per cent each on Friday. D-Street investors await the Union Budget 2024-25, slated to be presented in the parliament by Sitharaman tomorrow, Saturday, February 1. Notably, the Indian equity market will remain open for trading on Saturday, due to the budget presentation.