Sensex gains 199 points, Nifty closes at 9,251; HUL, Reliance Industries top gainers

Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Friday, tracking positive cues from overseas as investors shook off weak economic data and focused on upcoming earnings. Indices closed on a bullish note on the last day of trading of the week. Reversing losses after two straight sessions, Sensex ended 199 points higher at 31,642 and Nifty closed 52 points higher at 9,251.

IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Axis Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers on Sensex. On the other hand, PowerGird, HCL Tech, Asian Paints and NTPC were among the top losers.

Sectorally, gains in pharma, FMCG, IT, media were capped by losses in auto, metal, realty, banking and financials.

Stock specific action was seen in index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained 3.43% to Rs 1,558 on BSE after PE firm Vista Equity Partners said it would invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. The stock gained 4.43% intraday, taking the market cap to 10 lakh crore after today's deal with Vista.

Domestic market indices today early gains as investors focused on the forthcoming earnings. While SBI Cards share price that earlier opened with a gain of 2.45% fell 3.66% lower intraday after posting Q4 results, Adani Gas shares gained 9.27%  post the Q4 earnings announcement. Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care also earlier gained 1.5% but closed 1.41% lower post results.

Besides this, Shree Cement, Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Capital, Valiant Organics, Uttam Galva Steels, TCI Express, Swaraj Engines, R Systems International will also be reporting their March quarterly results today.

Earlier, Sensex and Nifty opened sharply higher today, with Sensex climbing 510 points to 31,954 and Nifty rising 131 points to 9,340.

Overseas, US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread. Asian markets traded positive led by Nikkei tracking overnight gains from the US.

European markets also opened higher today as investors digested easing restrictions by many EU states, with FRSE, CAC and DAX each gaining over 1%.

Expressing views over the market trend today, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Nifty fluctuated around 150 points in another day of volatile trades, tracking uncertainty in the markets. Gains were led by Reliance, which succeeded in another round of fundraising even in this adverse scenario. Global market trends were also positive following attempts to defuse tensions around the US-China trade talks. While the earnings season has been lacklustre, markets seem to be awaiting the announcement of a stimulus package from the government".

Commenting on Nifty futures' near term outlook, Sameet Chavan (Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking) said, "We remain hopeful as long as a key support zone of 9100-8900 is not violated. On the upside, intraday resistances are seen at 9277 followed by 9350. A sustainable move beyond this would trigger a good up move to test the sturdy wall of 9450 - 9550.

Share Market LIVE: Sensex ends 199 points higher, Nifty at 9,251; HUL, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy top gainers

SBI Cards share price rises over 2% ahead of Q4 earnings today

Reliance Industries share gains over 4% as Vista Equity Partners to invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms