Sensex up 1,861.75 points, Nifty settles at 8317.85

By Administrator_India

Capital Sands

Equity benchmark indices on Wednesday (March 25) closed in the green amid expectations of fiscal measures being announced by the government. The Sensex was up 1,861.75 points or 6.98% at 28535.78, while the broader Nifty ended up 516.80 points or 6.62% at 8317.85.

Major gainers on the Nifty were Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Grasim Industries and UPL and top loser stocks were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, IOC, and Coal India. About 1194 shares advanced, 976 stocks declined, while 153 shares remain unchanged.

During the afternoon trade, equity benchmark indices ticked up by 4 per cent as Asian shares extended a rally after Wall Street`s strong rebound overnight. At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was up by 1,175 points or 4.41 per cent to 27,849 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 326 points or 4.17 per cent to 8,127. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty financial service gaining by 3.7 per cent, auto by 3.4 per cent and FMCG by 1.8 per cent.

During early hours on today, equity indices fluctuated between gains and losses as the country braced up for a three-week lockdown to break the chain of deadly COVID-19 virus. At 10:15 am, the BSE Sensex was down by 36 points or 0.14 per cent to 26,638 but the Nifty 50 edged higher by 20 points or 0.25 per cent to 7,821.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative terrain with Nifty PSU bank lower by 3.31 per cent, auto by 1.9 per cent and realty by 1.2 per cent. Among stocks, IndusInd bank swung lower by nearly 8 per cent to Rs 287.40 per share while ICICI Bank lost by 3.9 per cent and State Bank of India by 3.4 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra dropped by 7.1 per cent, ITC by 6.1 per cent, HCL Technologies by 3.7 per cent and Asian Paints by 3.5 per cent.

However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 6.16 per cent to Rs 1,001.55 per share while FMCG major Nestle India was up by 3.8 per cent. The other prominent gainers were Grasim, Cipla, Tech Mahindra and Britannia.