Stock markets rise for 3rd day, Sensex jumps 484.53 pts on gains in banking, oil shares

Benchmark Sensex spurted by 484 points and Nifty closed above 25,700 on Friday, extending their winning run to the third consecutive day on buying in blue-chip banking and oil shares and foreign fund inflows.

In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 484.53 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 83,952.19. During the day, it surged 704.58 points or 0.84 per cent to 84,172.24.

The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 124.55 points or 0.49 per cent to 25,709.85.

Among Sensex firms, Asian Paints jumped the most by 4.18 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries were also among the gainers.

However, Infosys, HCL Tech, Eternal, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 997.29 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth Rs 4,076.20 crore in the previous trade.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi settled in the positive territory while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading sharply lower. US markets ended lower on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.92 per cent to USD 60.50 a barrel.

On Thursday, the Sensex jumped 862.23 points or 1.04 per cent to settle at 83,467.66. The Nifty surged 261.75 points or 1.03 per cent to 25,585.30.