Sensex ends up 109.56 points at 41130.17, Nifty above 12K; Bharti Infratel, UPL, JSW Steel shine

Mumbai: Benchmark indices on Thursday (November 28) closed near the day's high level with the support of PSU bank and metal stocks. The Sensex was up 109.56 points or 0.27% at 41130.17, while Nifty was up 50.50 points or 0.42% at 12151.20. The major gainers on the Nifty included Bharti Infratel, UPL, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, and ICICI Bank, while Zee Entertainment, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were among major losers.

Except for Auto, all other sectoral indices ended higher. About 1272 shares have advanced, 1178 shares declined, and 194 shares are unchanged. 

During early hours on Thursday, the benchmark indices continued their upward march after scaling new highs a day earlier. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 69 points to 41,090 while the Nifty 50 gained by 22 points at 12,123. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green except for Nifty auto, FMCG and media. 

Nifty PSU bank added gains of 2 per cent while Nifty IT rose by 0.5 per cent. Bharti Infratel moved up by 5.3 per cent at Rs 237.40 per share while UPL rose by 3.8 per cent at Rs 572.95 apiece. Private lenders Yes Bank and ICICI Bank were up by 2.2 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively as metal majors JSW Steel and Tata Steel gained by 1.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent. The other scrips which were in positive terrain included Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement and Coal India. 

Asian share markets wobbled as concerns mounted that tensions over Hong Kong may worsen fractious relations between Washington and Beijing. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and China`s Foreign Ministry promptly warned of unspecified firm counter-measures in response.

Meanwhile, a four-day rally that had lifted world stocks to near-record highs stalled on Thursday as a US bill backing Hong Kong`s protesters became law, provoking China`s ire and threatening to derail an interim trade deal between Washington and Beijing.

Fading hopes of a rapprochement between the world`s two biggest economies before additional, potentially damaging tariff hikes kick in, also helped safe-haven assets such as US and German bonds and lifted the yen from six-month lows, said a Reuters report, adding that the US legislation, which threatens sanctions for human rights violations and seeks to safeguard Hong Kong`s autonomy, prompted China to warn of "firm counter-measures".