New Delhi, 12 June (H.S.):
The domestic equity market ended sharply higher on Friday, mirroring gains across most global markets, amid growing optimism over a potential agreement between Iran and the United States and the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz remaining open. Supported by strong buying interest in the second half of the session, benchmark indices closed with substantial gains, with the Sensex rising 2.30 percent and the Nifty advancing 1.99 percent.
The market opened on a positive note and initially maintained its upward trajectory. However, profit-booking during the first half led to a brief pullback in both benchmark indices. Sentiment improved significantly in the latter half of the session as investors resorted to broad-based buying, driving the indices sharply higher by the close.
With the exception of the Information Technology sector, all major sectoral indices ended the day in positive territory. Banking, real estate, and automobile stocks witnessed strong buying throughout the session. Capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare, metals, oil and gas, and public sector enterprise indices also closed firmly in the green. In contrast, the Nifty IT Index ended marginally lower by 0.09 percent due to persistent selling pressure.
The broader market also witnessed sustained buying activity. The Nifty Midcap Index closed 2.43 percent higher, while the Smallcap Index surged 2.80 percent.
The sharp rally significantly enhanced investor wealth. The market capitalization of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange rose to an estimated ₹462 lakh crore by the end of trading, compared with ₹451.83 lakh crore in the previous session. As a result, investors gained approximately ₹10.17 lakh crore in a single trading day.
Trading activity remained robust across both exchanges. On the BSE, 4,422 stocks were actively traded, of which 3,222 advanced, 1,046 declined, and 154 remained unchanged. On the National Stock Exchange, 2,999 stocks witnessed active trading; 2,518 closed higher while 481 ended lower.
Among the 30 constituents of the BSE Sensex, 28 ended in positive territory and only two declined. Similarly, of the 50 constituents of the Nifty 50, 38 stocks closed higher while 12 ended lower.
The Sensex opened 876.72 points higher at 74,709.27. Profit-booking pressure subsequently dragged the index down to an intraday low of 74,453.39 by around 1:00 p.m. Market sentiment turned decisively positive after reports suggested progress on several issues in negotiations between the United States and Iran.
The renewed optimism triggered aggressive buying across sectors. Shortly before the close, the Sensex surged 1,775.47 points to touch an intraday high of 75,608.02. It eventually settled at 75,527.95, up 1,695.40 points from the previous close.
The Nifty followed a similar trajectory. It opened 250.95 points higher at 23,412.55 before slipping to an intraday low of 23,313.90 amid early selling pressure. Sustained buying later lifted the benchmark to an intraday high of 23,645.35 shortly before the close. The index eventually settled at 23,622.90, registering a gain of 461.30 points after some late-session profit-booking.
Among the market heavyweights, Shriram Finance emerged as the top gainer with a rise of 7.75 percent, followed by Bajaj Finance at 5.49 percent, Larsen & Toubro at 4.85 percent, InterGlobe Aviation at 4.60 percent, and Titan Company at 3.95 percent.
On the losing side, Nestlé India declined 3.29 percent, followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation at 2.53 percent, Tech Mahindra at 2.45 percent, SBI Life Insurance at 0.76 percent, and Tata Consumer Products at 0.71 percent.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
