Sensex rallies 548 pts as financial, energy stocks spurt

Markets darted up for the third straight session on Friday as robust corporate results gave fresh impetus to investor bullishness, even as the country's COVID-19 case count breached the 10-lakh mark.

After trading on a positive note through the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex witnessed a burst of buying towards the end of the session to close at 37,020.14, up 548.46 points, or 1.50 per cent.

Similarly, the wider NSE Nifty surged 161.75 points, or 1.51 per cent, to close at 10,901.70.

During the week, the Sensex advanced 425.81 points or 1.16 per cent, while the Nifty gained 133.65 points or 1.24 per cent.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Friday, rallying 5.52 per cent, followed by Titan, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, M&M and Bajaj Finance.

Only five Sensex constituents closed in the red -- TCS, Nestle India, Infosys, HCL Tech and Axis Bank, shedding up to 1.45 per cent.

According to traders, stock-specific buying driven by earnings boosted the markets, while a strengthening rupee also added to the buying momentum.

"IT companies like Infosys, Wipro are amongst a few who witnessed stock frenzy this week and gave an impression of a good head start to the earnings season...The earnings performance by IT players has brought about renewed confidence in D-Street which was supposed to (witness) a 'washout quarter'.

"Going forward it is expected that such performances will be largely discounted with a kneejerk reaction without significant price movements," said Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO Samco Group.

IT firm HCL Technologies on Friday posted a 31.7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,925 crore for the June 2020 quarter.

BSE oil and gas, energy, consumer durables, finance, bankex and auto indices rallied up to 5.05 per cent, while IT and teck ended in the red.

Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices jumped up to 1.55 per cent in line with the benchmarks.

Meanwhile, with a record single-day surge of 34,956 cases, India's COVID-19 tally zoomed past ten lakh on Friday, just three days after it crossed the nine-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Global markets were mixed ahead of a crucial European Union meeting over the Euro 750-billion recovery fund, while spiking coronavirus cases in the US and other countries weighed on sentiment.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended in the green, while Tokyo closed lower.

In Europe, stock exchanges in Germany and the UK were trading with gains, while those in France witnessed losses in early deals. International oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.97 per cent to USD 42.95 per barrel.

In the forex market, the rupee appreciated by 16 paise to close at 75.02 against the US dollar.