Sensex gains 484 Points as IT, financials rally

MUMBAI: Extending its gains, the domestic equity market settled in the positive territory on Thursday amid solid buying in IT and financial stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 484 points or 1.54 per cent to end at 31,863. Infosys (up around 5.7 per cent) contributed the most to the index’s gains. Other major contributors to the gains were HDFC Bank, TCS, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries (RIL).

On the NSE, the benchmark index Nifty settled at 9,314 levels, up 127 points or 1.38 per cent. India VIX declined around 9 per cent to 39.01 levels.

Among buzzing stocks, Vodafone Idea surged as much as 14.89 per cent to Rs 4.55 on the BSE after its parent company, Vodafone Plc, announced that it was making an advance payment of $200 million to its India arm. The stock ended at Rs 4.33, up 9.34 per cent.

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) surged 14 per cent to Rs 173 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought less than 1 per cent stake in the broadcasting & cable TV operators via open market on Wednesday. The stock ended around 4 per cent higher at Rs 157.55 apiece.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals surged 10 per cent to Rs 699 on the BSE after the company’s consolidated profit before tax (PBT) more than doubled at Rs 298 crore in the January-March quarter (Q4FY20), on the back of healthy revenue. The drug maker had a PBT of Rs 139 crore during the same quarter in previous fiscal.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose nearly a per cent to 11,671 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained over 1 per cent to 10,785 levels. (Agencies)

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