Sensex rises 817 pts, Nifty near 16,600 as BJP set to win 4 states

Indian stock markets ended higher for a third straight day on Thursday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked set to win four of the five key state elections. An across-the-board rally swept the markets with FMCG, public sector banks, and realty sectors leading from the front.

The markets, however, ended mildly off highs as European markets dropped up to 1 per cent in early deals as investors monitored the war in Ukraine and fluctuations in commodity prices. Futures linked to main Wall Street indices, too, traded in the red.

Against this backdrop, the S&P BSE Sensex eased 778 points from the day's high of 56,242 and closed 817 points, or 1.5 per cent, higher at 55,464. The broader Nifty50, on the other hand, closed at 16,595, up 249 points or 1.5 per cent. 

HUL (up 5 per cent) was the top gainer on the 50-pack index, followed by Tata Steel, Grasim Industries, SBI, Tata Consumer Products, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IOC, and IndusInd Bank. All these stocks gained between 3 and 4 per cent.

Meanwhile, only six stocks ended in the red on the index including Coal India (down 4.4 per cent), Tech M, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Labs, UPL, and TCS. 

The broader indices, too, advanced in-tandem with their large-cap peers with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices adding 1 per cent each.

Among individual shares, shares of Coforge dipped 7 per cent to Rs 4,241 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after 10 per cent of the total equity of the information technology (IT) consulting & software company changed hands on the BSE.

On the flipside, shares of Entertainment Network (India) soared 14 per cent to Rs 214.75 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes. The stock of the company, which operates India's FM radio channel Radio Mirchi, traded close to its 52-week high of Rs 226.95 hit on August 2, 2021.

Overall, over 2,400 stocks settled in the positive territory today as against less than 1,000 stocks that ended in the red. Volatility gauge, India VIX, also dropped 7 per cent.