Stock markets advance for 3rd day; Sensex rises 221 points, L&T major driver

Erasing its early losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 221.69 points or 0.27% to settle at 82,566.37. During the morning trade, it tanked 636.74 points or 0.77% to 81,707.94.

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Thursday, helped by a rally in blue-chip Larsen & Toubro and the Economic Survey projecting the GDP growth of 6.8-7.2 per cent for the next fiscal.

Erasing its early losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 221.69 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 82,566.37. During the morning trade, it tanked 636.74 points or 0.77 per cent to 81,707.94.

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 76.15 points or 0.30 per cent to end at 25,418.90. The broader index fell 182.95 points or 0.72 per cent to a low of 25,159.80 in early trade.

A rally in global markets and fresh foreign fund inflows helped key indices recover from lows, analysts said.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Steel jumped the most by 4.41 per cent.

Larsen & Toubro climbed 3.66 per cent after its consolidated revenue from operations in the October-December quarter rose by 10 per cent to Rs 71,450 crore from Rs 64,668 crore in the year-ago period.

Axis Bank, Eternal, NTPC, Adani Ports and ICICI Bank were also among the gainers.

However, Asian Paints, InterGlobe Aviation, Maruti and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

The Economic Survey 2025-26 on Thursday projected GDP growth of 6.8-7.2 per cent for the next fiscal year, on the back of the cumulative impact of reforms, and said the economy remains on a stable footing.

The ongoing negotiations for a trade agreement with the US are expected to conclude during the year, a development that could help reduce uncertainty on the external front, according to the Economic Survey.

"Domestic markets ended higher after staging a strong rebound, supported by an upbeat economic survey that reaffirmed a robust FY27 growth outlook and a well-anchored inflation environment amidst persistent global uncertainties," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers on Wednesday after days of offloading stocks, according to exchange data. They bought stocks worth Rs 480.26 crore. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought equities worth Rs 3,360.59 crore.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended higher.

Markets in Europe were trading higher. US markets ended flat on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 2.50 per cent to USD 70.11 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 487.20 points or 0.60 per cent to settle at 82,344.68. The Nifty surged 167.35 points or 0.66 per cent to end at 25,342.75.