Sensex ends nearly 180 points higher, Nifty closes above 10,300

New Delhi: Sensex ended on a higher note on Monday led by gains in index heavyweights.

Sensex gained 179.59 points or 0.52 percent to end at 34,911.32 while the NSE Nifty ended 66.80 points or 0.65 percent higher at 10,311.20.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Bajaj auto, Bajaj finance, Bjaj Finserve, Kotak Bank, Powergrid, Axis Bank, NTPC, Asian Paint, Tech Mahindra, SBI, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel, rising upto 6.89 percent. On the other hand, major laggards were HDFC, ONGC, TCS, RIL, HDFC Bank, Infosys, M&M, Ultrachem and Maruti, falling upto 1.13 percent.

The Nifty Pharma index ended up 2.2%, while the bank index rose 1.74%. Shares of Cipla Ltd ended up 3.2% after the homegrown pharma major has announced the launch of its generic version of remdesivir, which has been authorised for emergency use in treatment of COVID-19 patients by the USFDA, under its brand name Cipremi. The USFDA had issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Gilead Sciences Inc for emergency use of remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd spiked 27% after it said it has launched antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at a price of about Rs 103 per tablet.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled 523.68 points, or 1.53 per cent, higher at 34,731.73, and the broader Nifty surged 152.75 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 10,244.40.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,237 crore in the capital market on Friday, provisional exchange data showed.