Sensex rises 524 points; Nifty ends near 10,250; RIL m-cap crosses Rs 11 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: Equity indices finished in green for the second consecutive session on Friday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 500 points, led by gains in index-heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) after the oil-to-telecom conglomerate became "net-debt free".
The 30-share BSE index surged 524 points or 1.53 per cent to close at 34,732; while the broader NSE Nifty finished 153 points or 1.51 per cent higher at 10,244.
Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank and ONGC were the top gainers in the sensex pack rising, as much as 6.51 per cent.
While IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, ITC, HDFC and Infosys were the top losers falling up to 2.22 per cent.
On NSE, sub-indices Nifty Realty, PSU Bank and Media gained up to 6.40 per cent.
According to analysts, besides stock-specific actions, positive cues from global markets and fresh foreign fund inflows buoyed market sentiment.
Shares of Reliance Industries shares surged as much as 6.51 per cent to Rs 1,764. The total market valuation of the company crossed the 11 lakh crore-mark after it announced that RIL had become net debt free after raising over Rs 1.69 lakh crore ($22.15 billion) over the last few weeks via stake sales in its digital arm and a rights issue.

However, there are widespread concerns about India’s economic growth, which is already languishing at multi-year lows and faces further challenges from rising COVID-19 cases at home and abroad.
“In case, hopes of a V-shaped recovery in earnings growth in the second half of fiscal year 2020-21 does not materialise, the market can face a steep correction,” Ajay Bodke, chief executive officer and chief portfolio manager (PMS) at Prabhudas Lilladher told news agency Reuters.
“Caution is being thrown to the winds with market ignoring heightened geopolitical risks and being wildly optimistic about a sharp bounce back,” Bodke added.
On the currency front, the rupee settled 6 paise lower at 76.20 (provisional) against the US dollar as strengthening of the US currency and rising COVID-19 cases weighed on investor sentiment.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 366.57 crore on a net basis in the capital market on Thursday, provisional exchange data showed.
(With agency inputs)