Closing Bell: Sensex jumps 156 points, Nifty up 57 points

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Thursday with
the Sensex and Nifty settling above the psychological 58200 and 17300 levels
respectively, after gains in metal, IT, and capital goods shares amid foreign
capital inflows.

The Sensex gained 156.63 points or 0.27% to settle at
58,222.10. During the day, it jumped 513.29 points or 0.88% to 58,578.76. The
Nifty advanced 57.50 points or 0.33% to end at 17,331.80.

The broader indices ended in green with the BSE Midcap
index gaining 1.13% and the Small cap index up by 1.30%. The top gaining
sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.89%, Capital Goods up by 2.34%,
Realty up by 2.15%, Industrials up by 1.96% and Power was up by 1.61%, while
FMCG down by 0.18% and Telecom was down by 0.16% were the only losing indices
on BSE.

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Top gainers from the Sensex pack were Tata Steel up by
2.27%, Larsen and Toubro 2.24%, ICICI Bank 2.04%, HCL Tech 1.98%, Infosys
1.76%, Axis Bank 1.65%, Sun Pharma 1.25%, Wipro 1.13%, ITC 1.11% and State Bank
of India 0.85%.

Among laggards were Bharti Airtel down by 2.53%, Hindustan
Unilever 2.08%, IndusInd Bank 1.52%, HDFC 1.41%, Bajaj Finance 1.18%, HDFC Bank
1.08%, Power Grid Corp 1.06%, UltraTech Cement 0.35%, and Kotak Mahindra 0.30%.

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Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services
said, “The Indian market is maintaining its resilience despite mixed cues
from global equities and surging oil prices. Both domestic and foreign
investors are supporting the rally.” The market was also bolstered by
expectations on the Q2 results session, with improvement in sectors like metal,
IT, and realty, Nair added.

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The Indian rupee plunged 32 paise to close at an all-time low of
81.94 against the US dollar amid high volatility as firm crude oil prices
weighed on the local unit.

Asian markets ended mostly higher with the Nikkei 225 up by
0.70% and the KOSPI Composite up by 1.02%.

European stock exchanges were trading in the negative
territory in mid-session deals. The US equity markets ended marginally lower on
Wednesday.

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The domestic equity markets were closed on Wednesday for
the Dussehra festival.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex had surged
1,276.66 points or 2.25% to settle at 58,065.47. The Nifty rallied 386.95
points or 2.29% to end at 17,274.30.

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Brent crude, the international oil benchmark climbed 0.14%
to 93.50 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional
investors were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,344.63 crore on
Tuesday.