Sensex soars 1,047 pts, Nifty tops 17,250; HDFC jumps 5.5%, Paytm drops 6%

Indian equities rose in-line with global markets as they cheered progress on ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. That apart, investors also welcomed a 25-bps rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, which was on expected lines.

The benchmark indices ended near the day's high level at 57,864, up 1,047 points or 1.84 per cent. The Nifty50, meanwhile, zoomed 312 points or 1.84 per cent to settle at 17,287. Both the indices had hit an intra-day high of 58,096 and 17,345, respectively.

HDFC was the top index gainer today, rallying 5.4 per cent on the NSE. JSW Steel, Titan Company, SBI Life, RIL, Kotak Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Nestle India, and Eicher Motors were the other notable gainers, up between 3 and 5 per cent. 

Only four large-cap counters ended in the red, including Infosys, Cipla, Indian Oil, and HCL Tech. All these stocks dipped between 0.4 and 1 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 1 per cent each.

For the week, the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices climbed over 4 per cent while the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices zoomed 2 per cent each.

Sectorally, the Nifty Realty index advanced over 3 per cent today, ending as the top sectoral gainer for a second straight day. The Nifty Financial Services, Bank, and Metal indices edged between 2 and 2.5 per cent higher.

Buzzing stocks
Shares of Titan Company hit a record high of Rs 2,718.65, on rallying 5 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade on expectations of strong earnings growth. READ MORE

Shares of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group companies tanked up to 19 per cent, hitting respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after Future Retail (FRL) said on Wednesday that it was committed to taking all actions necessary to seek value adjustments and reversal of takeover of stores by the Reliance Group. READ MORE

Paytm shares dropped over 6 per cent after Macquarie slashed its target price to Rs 450. The stock has crashed around 71 per cent from its issue price. READ MORE
 

Global markets

European stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors reacted to the US Federal Reserve's first rate hike in years. The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered fractionally above the flatline by mid-morning, with oil and gas stocks adding 1.1 per cent while banks shed 1 per cent.

On Wall Street, US stock futures were generally quiet early Thursday morning with futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 65 points, or 0.2 per cent. Those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 shed up to 0.3 per cent. 

In Asia, however, relief rally took Japan's Nikkei 3.5 per cent higher; South Korea's Kospi by 1.3 per cent; and Hong Kong;s Hang Seng by 7 per cent.