Equity indices end higher, RIL stocks surge post fresh investment into Jio
Mumbai, May 8 (IANS) The Indian stock market closed on a positive note on Friday after trimming major gains achieved earlier in the day.
The BSE Sensex, which ended nearly 200 points higher, surged 645 points earlier in the day to touch an intra-day high of 32,088.51 points.
Gains in the global indices supported the domestic market, analysts said.
Healthy buying in FMCG and healthcare stocks supported the indices. The S&P BSE FMCG index rose by 1.87 per cent while BSE Healthcare index closed higher by 1.40 per cent.
Rahul Sharma, Head of Research at Equity99 Advisors, said: “Today benchmark indices gave up much of their early gains on profit-booking as traders preferred to keep overnight stock positions light. This is despite positive clues from global markets. Foreign portfolio investors being net buyers in the capital market added to optimistic sentiments.”
Net inflow of foreign institutional investments stood at Rs 1,724.71 crore, while domestic institutional investors carried out a net selling of stocks worth Rs 1,503.14 crore during the day.
Sharma noted the overall traders’ mood continue to remain sceptical on the outlook for the market on weak corporate earnings and economic slowdown due to the lockdown.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said that a sell off from the highs curbed the gains during the day. Broad market indices like the BSE Mid Cap index gained less, thereby underperforming the Sensex and Nifty.
Major Asian markets have closed on a positive note and European indices like the CAC and DAX have ended higher, he added.
On the technical front, he said that Nifty remains in a short term down trend. Further downsides are likely once the immediate crucial support of 9,116 is broken and any pullback rallies could find resistances at the range of 9,381-9,451.
On Friday, the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange ended at 9,251.50, higher by 52.45 points or 0.57 per cent from the previous close.
The BSE Sensex closed at 31,642.70, higher by 199.32 points or 0.63 per centfrom the previous close of 31,443.38.
It had opened at 32,083.32 and recorded an intra-day low of 31,598.
Among the Sensex stocks, Reliance Industries (RIL) was a major gainer, as it surged over 3 per cent after the company announced an investment of Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms by US-headquartered Vista Equity Partners.
RIL shares on the BSE ended at Rs 1,561.80, higher by Rs 54.55 or 3.62 per cent from the previous close.
–IANS
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