Equity markets made a robust start to the new financial year on Friday, with the Sensex rallying over 708 points to recapture the crucial 59,000-mark on across-the-board buying amid a supportive trend overseas. Foreign fund inflows and positive macroeconomic signals added to the momentum, traders said.
On the first trading day of FY23, the BSE barometer surged 708.18 points or 1.21 per cent to settle at 59,276.69. During the day, it jumped 828.11 points or 1.41 per cent to 59,396.62. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 205.70 points or 1.18 per cent to finish at 17,670.45.
NTPC hogged the limelight in the 30-share Sensex pack, spurting 5.93 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Maruti. Only five constituents closed lower -- Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Titan and Infosys, slipping up to 0.80 per cent.
"The stock market kicked off FY23 on a positive note. It started the day muted and in-line with global markets but strengthened as the day progressed as the broad market picked up and buying increased in sectors like banks, power and realty.
"Cabinet approval for mega power policy, drop in crude and improvement in global futures ignited the rally. Russia-Ukraine war, movement of crude and RBI monetary policy meetings would be the major factors that will dictate the near trend," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex zoomed 1,914.49 points or 3.33 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 517.45 points or 3.01 per cent.
"Indian equity markets gave positive returns this week. Globally too, equity markets remained broadly resilient led by optimism on progress in Russia-Ukraine negotiations. On the other hand, commodities saw some correction from the recent highs. In India, markets saw broad based gains with most sectoral indices giving positive returns.
"Crude oil prices corrected this week and that is some positive for import dependent countries including India," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap index jumped 1.71 per cent and the midcap gauge gained 1.39 per cent in Friday's session.
Among BSE sectoral indices, utilities (3.44 per cent), power (3.16 per cent), oil & gas (2.73 per cent) and realty (2.34 per cent) were the lead gainers.
As many as 2,721 stocks advanced, while 674 declined and 106 remained unchanged.
For 2021-22 fiscal, the BSE Sensex jumped 9,059.36 points or 18.29 per cent, and the Nifty rallied 2,774.05 points or 18.88 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia, exchanges in Seoul and Tokyo ended lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green.
Markets in Europe were mostly trading higher as investors monitored the Russia-Ukraine negotiations.
Stock exchanges in the US ended on a negative note in the overnight session.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.22 per cent to USD 104.94 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.
Meanwhile, the production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 5.8 per cent in February, the sharpest growth in the last four months, on the back of better output of coal, natural gas, refinery products and cement industries, according to official data released post market hours on Thursday.