Stock Market Closing: Sensex Ends 228 pts Higher, Nifty Above 21900; M&M Soars 7%

Markets Today: Equity markets closed Thursday’s volatile trade in the positive territory albeit off the day’s high. The BSE Sensex ended 228 points higher at 72,050 and the NSE Nifty gained 71 points to close at 21,911.

M&M gained most among largecaps, ending with a gain of nearly 7 per cent after scaling a new high on firm Q3 results. Its net profit rose 61 per cent YoY to Rs 2,454 crore.

Energy and oil & gas sector largecaps NTPC, Power Grid, BPCL and ONGC were the next top frontline gainers, closing 3-5 per cent up. SBI and HDFC Bank gained over 2 per cent each, aiding the Sensex gains.

ITC, Nestle, HUL and Britannia were the top drags along with Axis Bank, Reliance, Apollo Hospitals and Sun Pharma, ending 0.7-2 per cent lower.

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices, meanwhile, closed with relatively higher gains of nearly 1 per cent each.

Nifty PSU Bank index led sectoral gains, closing 3 per cent higher. Nifty FMCG and Pharma were the notable underperformers.

Among stocks, MRPL was among the top BSE gainers, ending frozen at the 20 per cent upper circuit.

Paytm hits fresh low, down 5% after ED start probe under FEMA

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has launched a preliminary investigation or a pre-open inquiry into alleged violations related to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) in the Paytm Payments Bank case, sources said. ED is learnt to have sought further clarification on the matter from the central bank.

Global Cues

Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nikkei breaching a new 34-year peak, while the dollar took a breather near a three-month high as markets assess when the Federal Reserve is likely to start its easing cycle after a run of strong economic data.

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday after Wall Street bounced back, shaking off worries about inflation.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.06 per cent, or 399.95 points, at 38,103.27 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.40 per cent, or 10.31 points, to 2,594.90.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday as ride-hailing platforms Lyft and Uber rallied, while Nvidia displaced Alphabet as the U.S. stock market’s third most valuable company.