New Delhi: The key Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday extended gains and ended higher for a third straight session as the ruling BJP set to win four states in the Assembly elections.
During the opening session, the two domestic indices skyrocketed and jumped nearly 3 per cent on the big day of Assembly election results. However, the markets shed some of the gains as commodity prices fluctuated amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The 30-share BSE Sensex settled at 56,464, up 817 points, while the NSE Nifty closed day’s trade 249 points higher at 16,594.
Only three out of the 30 constituents on the Sensex have logged losses. On the Sensex platform, HUL (up 5 per cent) was the top gainer on the 50-pack index, followed by Tata Steel, Grasim Industries, SBI, Tata Consumer Products, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IOC, and IndusInd Bank. All these stocks gained between 3 and 4 per cent.
Meanwhile, only six stocks ended in the red on the index, including Coal India (down 4.4 per cent), Tech M, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, UPL, and TCS.
The broader indices, too, advanced in-tandem with their large-cap peers with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices adding 1 per cent each.
Among the 15 sector gauges, complied by NSE, 14 have settled in the green. Nifty FMCG, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Metal outperformed the index by rising as much as 3.03 per cent, 2.33 per cent, and 2.28 per cent, respectively. Nifty Media also jumped about 4.05 per cent, but Nifty Metal slipped 0.34 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, Sensex surged 1,223 points to end at 54,647, while the NSE Nifty moved 332 points up to close at 16,345.
“The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be widely watched by markets because it will set the tone for how the ruling BJP approaches and prepares for the general elections in 2024,” said Mohit Nigam, head, PMS, Hem Securities, according to the PTI report.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The extreme volatility in markets is reflected by the $30 drop in crude and 3 per cent spike in Nasdaq. Such massive ups and downs are the consequences of high level of uncertainty and sharply fluctuating market expectations. The relentless selling by the FPIs is not having much of an impact on the markets now as revealed by the 331 point rise in Nifty when FIIs sold equity worth Rs 4800 crores. High quality financials present good buying opportunities now. The down risk is limited.”