Sensex closes 484 points higher, Nifty settles at 9,313.90; IT stocks among top gainers

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices on Thursday (April 23) closed in the green with the Sensex ending 484 points higher, or 1.54 percent, at 31,863.08, while the broader Nifty settled at 9,313.90, up 127 points, or 1.38 percent. Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT logged a gain of 4.85 percent and ended as the top gainer. 

In the afternoon trade, benchmark indices extended gains in the afternoon with the Nifty50 reclaiming 9,300 levels driven by banking and financials and technology stocks, while the BSE Sensex gained 477.54 points or 1.52 percent at 31,857.09.

The Indian rupee ended at 76.07 against the US dollar today, appreciating by 60 paise compared to Wednesday's closing of 76.67 a dollar. In early trade, the domestic currency appreciated by 48 paise to 76.20 against the US dollar amid positive opening in the domestic equities and rebound in most of the Asian currencies.

During early hours on Thursday, equity benchmark indices were in the positive zone as Asian shares rose with a rebound in crude prices from historic lows. At 10:15 am, the BSE Sensex was up by 201 points or 0.64 per cent at 31,581 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 76 points or 0.83 per cent at 9,264. Except for Nifty auto, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with thins margins.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment jumped by 7.6 per cent to Rs 163.40 per share after Florida Retirement System (FRS) reportedly bought over half a per cent stake in the company a day earlier. FRS acquired 51.09 lakh equity shares at Rs 141.29 per share. FMCG major Britannia gained by 8.4 per cent at Rs 3,201 per unit while ONGC was up by 4.5 per cent at Rs 68.30.

Metal majors Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Vedanta were up by 3.3 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent. Tata Motors too gained by 2.6 per cent at Rs 77.90 per share, but Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, and Bajaj Finance traded in a negative zone. 

Meanwhile, caution gripped global markets today, with stocks falling before a key Eurogroup meeting to discuss joint stimulus measures, offsetting optimism from a fresh round of US coronavirus aid, and a recovery in oil prices.

The US Congress looked on course to approve nearly $500 billion more in aid to help small businesses, while European Union leaders make another attempt at agreeing on a joint recovery fund. European stocks slipped 0.4% and US stock futures were down 0.3% after a strong showing on Wednesday.

Adding further pressure were business activity surveys in the eurozone that showed economies suffered massive blows from the coronavirus outbreak and measures to contain it. IHS Markit`s Flash Composite Purchasing Managers` Index (PMI) for the bloc, seen as a good gauge of economic health, sank to 13.5, by far it's lowest reading since the survey began in mid-1998.

Stocks and other risky assets barely acknowledged those numbers, though, since they were mostly backward-looking data. It was the EU meeting and the outcome that weighed on markets. Italian two-year government bond yields fell 5.5 basis points to 1%, after earlier slipping as much as 12 bps to 0.94%. Ten-year yields were down by the same amount at 2.05%.

The silver lining in macroeconomic news overnight was the European Central Bank`s decision to let banks post collateral that was downgraded to junk during the coronavirus outbreak to prevent a credit squeeze in the eurozone. That pushed down the cost of insuring exposure to a basket of sub-investment grade European companies.

Asia was still riding the recovery in crude oil prices. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rebounded from two-week lows to be up 0.4% following an overnight lead from Wall Street.

Brent oil extended gains on Thursday to rise 5% to $21.46 a barrel on the prospects for further production cuts to reduce the glut in the oil market. U.S. crude gained 6% to $14.61.

In currencies, the dollar slipped against the currencies of oil-producing states, giving up earlier gains as the recovery in crude prices helped to soothe markets. The dollar fell 1% against the Russian rouble and 0.6% against the Mexican peso, retreating from a two-week high earlier in the session.

(With Agency Inputs)