Sensex surges 646 points to close at 38,840; Nifty settles near 11,450 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity indices finished higher on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising nearly 650 points led by gains in banking and financial services amid positive global cues.
The 30-share BSE index surged 646 points or 1.69 per cent to close at 38,840; while the broader NSE Nifty settled near 11,450.
Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the sensex pack rising up to 7.10 per cent after Wednesday’s announcement that US private equity firm Silver Lake Partners would buy 1.75 per cent stake in RIL’s retail arm for Rs 7,500 crore. The company’s market valuation rose to Rs 14,66,589.53 crore ($199.64 billion) in afternoon trade.
Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Ultra Cemco, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance were the other gainers with their shares rising as much as 4.25 per cent.
While Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and Titan were the major losers with their shares falling up to 2.24 per cent.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices NSE PSU Bank, Financial Services and Media gained up to 2.46 per cent.
According to traders, domestic equities surged tracking strong gains in the global markets.
“Reliance has gained expertise in the investment process through their fund raising in (their Jio Platforms digital business) and now they are repeating it in retail…some more upside may be there in the near term,” Deepak Jasani, head of research at HDFC Securities told news agency Reuters.
On the currency front, rupee strengthened by 9 paise and settled at 73.46 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday supported by weak American currency and positive domestic equities.
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 959.09 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.
(With agency inputs)