Sensex climbs 260 points on FII buying, hopes of India-US trade deal

Mumbai: BSE benchmark index Sensex ended 260 points higher on Friday amid optimism surrounding a potential India-US trade deal, record high GST collection in April, and continuous foreign fund inflows.

Moreover, a firm trend in global markets also added to the optimism in equities.

After a sharp rally in intra-day trade the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge later trimmed most of the gains and settled 259.75 points or 0.32 per cent higher at 80,501.99. During the day, the benchmark jumped 935.69 points or 1.16 per cent to 81,177.93.

In a volatile trade, the NSE Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 12.50 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 24,346.70.

"Markets were extremely volatile in the first half and gyrated nearly 1,000 points before turning range-bound to end higher due to selective buying in banking and IT stocks. After the recent upsurge, investors resorted to profit-taking with broader markets ending weak. Due to the fragile global environment amid geopolitical tensions and the ongoing tariff war, investors are not betting big on equities," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports jumped over 4 per cent after the firm reported a 50 per cent jump in its March quarter net profit and issued a higher year-on-year revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal, citing strong growth in port volumes and a robust rise in the logistics business.

Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Maruti, Tata Motors, ITC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were also among the gainers.

Nestle, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid and Titan were among the laggards.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 12.6 per cent Y-o-Y to an all-time high of about Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April, which the government said shows the resilience of the Indian economy and the effectiveness of cooperative federalism.

Meanwhile, the growth momentum in the Indian manufacturing sector improved in April, with output increasing at the fastest pace since June 2024, on the back of another strong expansion in order books, a monthly survey said on Friday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 58.1 in March to 58.2 in April, indicating the strongest improvement in the health of the sector for ten months.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the positive territory while Shanghai SSE Composite index ended marginally lower.

European markets were trading higher. US markets ended in the positive zone on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.82 per cent to USD 61.62 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 50.57 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Equity markets were closed on Thursday for 'Maharashtra Day'.

The Sensex declined 46.14 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 80,242.24 on Wednesday. The Nifty ended marginally lower by 1.75 points or 0.01 per cent at 24,334.20.