Sensex ends 119 pts higher, Nifty breaches 10,600 mark

The BSE benchmark Sensex ended 119 points higher Thursday and the broader Nifty went past the 10,600 mark on positive investor sentiment amid easing crude oil prices and firm rupee.

The 30-share index opened a shade higher at 35,145.75 points, hovered in the range of 35,402 and 35,118.42, before ending the session at 35,260.54, with a gain of 118.55 points, or 0.34 per cent, over its previous close.

The gauge had shed 2.50 points Wednesday in a highly volatile session.

The NSE Nifty also closed 40.40 points, or 0.38 per cent, higher at 10,616.70 after shuttling between 10,646.50 and 10,557.50.

The appreciation in rupee, firming trend in other Asian markets and a higher opening of European equities too influenced market mood here.

Traders said falling crude prices in the global market was a big boost for the economy as it lightens the country's import bill burden, eases inflation and current account deficit concerns.

Global crude oil prices have fallen nearly 30 per cent to USD 65 per barrel from over USD 86 in early October. Brent crude fell 0.47 per cent to USD 65.81 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee strengthened further by 44 paise to trade at 71.87 against the dollar in late afternoon trade in the forex market.

However, profit-booking at higher levels by speculators at the fag-end of the session trimmed some of the day's gains, traders added.

According to analysts, a drop in US 10-year bond yield, followed by a gradual pick up in foreign institutional investor (FII) inflow to domestic market and slide in oil prices eased the concerns of liquidity.

FIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs 277.38 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 272.34 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed.

Uncertainty over the US-China trade deal and next Federal Reserve policy, which is likely to see a hike in December, may add volatility in the near term, they added.

Shares of Jet Airways climbed 24.52 per cent amid reports that Tata Group was in talks to buy a controlling take in the cash-strapped airline.

Adani Ports took the top position among Sensex constituents by surging 4.19 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank rising 2.61 per cent.

Other big gainers include Axis Bank advancing 2.11 per cent, Hero MotoCorp 1.95 per cent, Tata Motors 1.78 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 1.50 per cent, Vedanta Ltd 1.37 per cent, Power Grid 1.18 per cent, L&T 0.97 per cent, Bharti Airtel 0.85 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.82 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.80 per cent and HDFC 0.75 per cent.

SBI, Infosys, RIL and IndusInd Bank, too, finished with gains of up to 0.56 per cent.

Shares of a private lender, Yes Bank emerged worst performer by plunging 7.42 per cent after its non-executive Chairman Ashok Chawla resigned with immediate effect.

The bank also said that Independent Director Vasant Gujarathi has tendered his resignation with immediate effect due to personal commitments.

Other laggards were NTPC, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Coal India, TCS, HUL, ITC, M&M, Asian Paint, Bajaj Auto, Wipro and Tata Steel falling by up to 2.16 per cent

Shares of Grasim Industries tumbled 7.91 per cent following the Aditya Birla Group firm's announcement of Rs 1,300 crore consolidated loss in the September quarter.

Shares of state-run oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC continued to show a bullish trend and surged up to 2.28 per cent on falling global crude oil prices.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE consumer durables index gained the most by rising 1.60 per cent, followed by realty index 1.58 per cent, bankex 0.79 per cent, metal 0.66 per cent, capital goods 0.66 per cent, auto 0.54 per cent, healthcare 0.32 per cent, infrastructure 0.19 per cent and PSU index 0.10 per cent.

However, FMCG, power, oil & gas, teck and IT indices ended in the negative zone.

The broader markets, too, displayed a firm trend with the mid-cap index rising 0.68 per cent and small-cap index gaining 0.40 per cent.

Globally, most of the other Asian markets ended higher.

Shanghai's Composite Index rose 1.36 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.67 per cent, while Taiwan index gained 0.35 per cent. Japan's Nikkei, however, shed 0.20 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC 40 was up 0.49 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.48 per cent, while London's FTSE was up 0.40 per cent.