Sensex Rises Over 222 Points, Nifty Settles Near 9,000

Equity benchmark Sensex rose over 222 points on Thursday, buoyed by gains in finance, energy and power stocks despite weak cues from global markets.

After swinging 784 points intra-day, the 30-share index settled 222.80 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 30,602.61.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty ended 67.50 points, or 0.76 per cent, up at 8,992.80. NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying nearly 6 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Titan, L&T, SBI, Sun Pharma and Nestle India.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Infosys were among the laggards.

Domestic market opened on a softer note tracking mixed global cues as virus concerns continued to weigh on sentiment, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon session, market gained positive traction as traders and investors were seen accumulating some large cap stocks, he noted.

Further, with the start of earnings season, the IT sector remained lacklustre during the day as commentary from Wipro failed to provide future clarity on Covid-19 impact while participants eyed TCS results later in the day, Solanki added.

On the currency front, the rupee tanked 43 paise to settle at a fresh all-time low of 76.87 (provisional) against the US dollar.

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 414, while the number of cases in the country climbed to 12,380.

Global tally of the infections has crossed 20 lakh, with over 1.37 lakh deaths. Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai ended on a positive note, while those in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo closed in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.28 per cent to USD 28.32 per barrel.