Sensex zooms 874pts in broad-based rally; Nifty tops 17350; RIL, HDFC up 2%

An across-the-board buying, along with firm global cues, lifted benchmarks over 1.5 per cent higher on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex sprinted 874 points to end at 57,912 while the Nifty50 soared 256 points to shut shop at 17,393.

M&M, HDFC, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, TCS, and Bajaj Finserv advanced between 2 per cent and 3 per cent on the Sensex index, lifting the index for a second day in a row. The upside was, however, challenged by tepid losses in Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, and Tata Steel. 

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose in tandem with the frontline indices and added up to 1.3 per cent.

RIL in focus

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is set to become India's first company to hit market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 19 trillion after a strong rally over the past three trading days. RIL's m-cap hit Rs 18.85 trillion intra-day today after the stock price of the company touched a new high of Rs 2,787.10. READ MORE

Global cues

European stocks traded slightly higher Thursday as investors keep an eye on developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was trading 0.4 per cent higher with most sectors in positive territory.

On Wall Street, futures linked to the three main indices added in the range of 0.6 per cent to 1.15 per cent. Earlier in Asia, main indices in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China ended between -2 per cent and 1.2 per cent.