Stock markets update: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty recovered by more than half a cent on Thursday following buying in index majors HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 358.79 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 70,865.10. The barometer opened lower and fell further by 585.92 points or 0.83 per cent to 69,920.39. But, markets found the winning momentum in the afternoon session and climbed 452.4 points or 0.64 per cent to 70,958.71.
The Nifty rallied 104.90 points or 0.50 per cent to 21,255.05. During the day, it hit a high of 21,288.35 and a low of 20,976.80. Both key indices had hit record high levels in intra-day trade on Wednesday before closing sharply down by over 1 per cent.
Among the Sensex firms, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, NTPC, State Bank of India, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers. Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HCL Tech and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major laggards. In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo settled lower while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.
Rupee falls against dollar
Meanwhile, the rupee fell by 9 paise to settle at 83.27 against the US dollar on Thursday as the withdrawal of foreign funds amid concerns over global trade disruption through the Red Sea route dented investor sentiment.
According to forex analysts, despite positive sentiment in the domestic equity markets and a weak American currency against major global currencies, the Indian unit was weighed down by the volatile crude oil prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.19 and traded between the peak of 83.18 and the lowest level of 83.28 against the dollar during intra-day deals. It settled at 83.27 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise from its previous close.
(With inputs from PTI)
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