Sensex rises 273 points to close at 38,901; Nifty settles above 11,450 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: In a highly volatile trading session, equity indices finished higher on Tuesday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 250 points led by gains in metal and pharma stocks.
The 30-share BSE index rose 273 points or 0.71 per cent to close at 38,901; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 83 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 11,470.
Top gainers in the sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, NTPC and SBI with their shares rising over 6.38 per cent.
While ONGC, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and ICICI Bank were the major losers falling up to 3.29 per cent.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices Nifty Metal and Pharma gained as much as 3.15 per cent.
According to traders, market shrugged off the 23.9 per cent slump in GDP (gross domestic product) and weak global cues by rebounding close to 1 per cent after previous session’s low.
“We are getting mixed signals from the data. Though India recorded its worst GDP, the silver lining is that the agrarian economy managed to post positive growth of 3.4% in the June quarter,” Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets told news agency Reuters.
Sentiment was also supported after a private business survey showed India’s factory activity grew in August for the first time in five months as the easing of coronavirus restrictions spurred a rebound in domestic demand.
Domestic equity markets have rallied more than 50% since a virus-led crash in March despite a flurry of grim data and rising COVID-19 infections, as huge flows of cheap capital provided by global central banks made heavily discounted stocks attractive.
On the currency front, rupee strengthened 73 paise and crossed the crucial 73-mark against the US dollar, supported by a weak American currency and positive domestic equities.
Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,395.49 crore on a net basis on Monday.
(With agency inputs)