Markets extend gains for 5th session; Sensex revisits 74k

• Equity benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 500 points to reclaim the 74,000 mark while the Nifty closed above the 22,550 level on Thursday.
• The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 486.50 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 74,339.44.
• SBI, NTPC, Nestle, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, ITC, and HCL Tech were among the other major gainers.

Rising for the fifth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 500 points to reclaim the 74,000 mark while the Nifty closed above the 22,550 level on Thursday, driven by heavy buying in banking, financial and metal stocks. Recovering after a sell-off in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 486.50 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 74,339.44. During the day, it surged 718.31 points or 0.97 per cent to 74,571.25.

The NSE Nifty advanced 167.95 points or 0.75 per cent to 22,570.35.

From the Sensex basket, Axis Bank jumped 6 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 7,599 crore during the March 2024 quarter.

State Bank of India, NTPC, Nestle, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the other major gainers.

Kotak Mahindra Bank tanked 10.85 per cent after the RBI barred the company from onboarding customers online and issuing credit cards.

Cracking down on repeated non-compliance with IT norms, the RBI on Wednesday barred Kotak Mahindra Bank from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards with immediate effect after the regulator found "serious deficiencies" in the lender's IT risk management.

"The market breadth was strong, with oil prices correcting due to easing conflict in the Middle East and weakening US demand. Domestic broader market was buoyed by the PMI data, with an improvement in discretionary spending. Further, the RBI's regulatory ecosystem on private banks led the PSU banks to outperform. The global market largely traded on a mixed note and is now focused on earning reports, with initial reports suggesting a disappointing outlook for technology stocks, which led to the US yield inching higher," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and Asian Paints were the other laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo settled lower while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. Wall Street ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.

"The Nifty gained 168 points over the day to close at 22,570. Expectedly a volatile expiry today as the Nifty witnessed a swing of 125 points from around the level of 22,500. The going has been tough both for the bulls and bears as the market has been unable to move in a free flowing manner. This is applicable mainly for the frontline indices as the strength in the broader markets has been far more cleaner & stronger. The Nifty Small Cap 100 Index once again hit a new lifetime high (16,899) in today’s trading session. The broader markets outperformed as compared to the mainline indices," said Tejas Shah, Technical Research, JM Financial & BlinkX.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.06 per cent to USD 88.07 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,511.74 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark rose 114.49 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 73,852.94 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty advanced 34.40 points or 0.15 per cent to 22,402.40.

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