Stock markets extend gains for fifth day; Sensex revisits 66K

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 385 points to reclaim the 66,000 mark on Thursday, propelled by robust buying in index majors HDFC Bank, L&T and SBI amid a weak trend in global equities.

A decline in crude oil prices in the international market also supported the domestic equities, traders said.

Rising for the fifth straight day, the BSE Sensex recovered all the early lost ground and finally closed with a gain of 385.04 points or 0.58 per cent at 66,265.56. During the day, it hit a low of 65,672.34 and a high of 66,296.90.

The Nifty advanced 116 points or 0.59 per cent to settle at 19,727.05.

''Markets extended recovery on the weekly expiry day and gained over half a per cent. The tone was range bound in the first half however a sharp surge in the select heavyweights turned the bias in favour of bulls as the day progressed,'' said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped 4.26 per cent to emerge as the biggest gainer, followed by IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, NTPC, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Wipro. Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards.

''Benchmark Indices staged a smart afternoon rally today with the help of PSU and Infrastructure stocks. With a 13.5 per cent share of the market capitalisation, PSU companies have seen a robust jump from just over 9 per cent in 2021even as several midcap state-owned entities have seen a multi-fold rise in their stock values during this period.

''ETF flows during the late afternoon also helped large-caps recover lost ground,'' S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.79 per cent, and smallcap index jumped 0.40 per cent.

Among the indices, capital goods rallied 2.29 per cent, industrials climbed 1.55 per cent, realty jumped 1.44 per cent, bankex gained 1.12 per cent, utilities (1.04 per cent), financial services (0.97 per cent) and energy (0.96 per cent).

FMCG emerged as the only laggard. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading in the green in early deals. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.72 per cent to USD 89.95 a barrel.

''The domestic market initially opened with a lacklustre performance, influenced by weak global cues. However, as the day progressed, a decline in US bond yields and crude oil prices injected some positivity into the market.

''This optimism was most prominent in banking stocks. Interestingly, mid-and small-cap stocks managed to retain investor interest even though their valuations are relatively high. Nonetheless, the persistently weak trade data from China continues to cast a shadow over the global market's outlook,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,245.86 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. In the previous session on Wednesday, fag-end buying helped the BSE benchmark climb 100.26 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 65,880.52. The Nifty advanced 36.15 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 19,611.05.