Sensex soars 700 pts; Nifty closes above 10k-mark

Mumbai, Jun 18 () The BSE Sensex rallied 700 points on Thursday following gains in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank despite weak cues from global markets.

After starting on a tepid note, the 30-share benchmark gained momentum in late-afternoon trade to close at 34,208.05, up 700.13 points, or 2.09 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 210.50 points, or 2.13 per cent, to 10,091.65.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing over 5 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, SBI, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, HUL, Bharti Airtel, TCS, ONGC and Maruti were among the laggards.

According to Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental) at Anand Rathi, market started on a tepid note as peers in Asia traded mixed in the morning session following comments by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which said that developing Asia will "barely grow" in 2020.

However, the mood in the domestic market turned upbeat in the afternoon with upward momentum witnessed in banks, financial services and metals indices, he added.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled with losses, while Shanghai closed in the positive territory.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in early trade.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures inched up 0.76 per cent to USD 41.02 per barrel.

The number of cases around the world linked to COVID-19 has crossed 83.31 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.48 lakh.

Meanwhile, India's case tally stood at 3,66,946 with death toll of 12,237.

On the currency front, the rupee settled on a flat note, registering a rise of just 2 paise to 76.14 against the US dollar. ANS ABM ABM