Sensex closes 789 points higher, Nifty above 14,850; Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv top gainers

Sensex ended nearly 800 points higher today amid a rally in finance and auto stocks post strong quarterly earnings. The 30-stock index closed 789 points higher at 49,733 against previous close of 48,944. Nifty climbed 211 points to 14,864 against previous close of 14,653.

Sensex gained 857 points intra day to 49,801 and Nifty rose 237 points intra day to 14,890. BSE bankex was the top gainer rising 1,115 points to 38,273.

Bank Nifty too surged 987 points to 33,722.     

Positive sentiment in banking sector came after share of NBFC Bajaj Finance climbed as much 8.9% to its highest since April 8 following a jump in its March-quarter profit. Net profit rose 42% to Rs 1,347 crore in the January-March period from Rs 948 crore a year ago, Bajaj Finance said.

Share of Bajaj Finserv, which was set to report its quarterly results later in the day, rose 2.7%.

BSE auto index too gained 388 points to end at 22,223 in today's session. Sentiment was upbeat in the auto sector after TVS Motor reported nearly four-fold rise in its consolidated net profit in Q4. It reported net profit of Rs 319.19 crore in Q4 on the back of robust sales in the domestic and international markets.

The share hit fresh 52-week high of  Rs 661.1 today, rising 16.74% against previous close of Rs 566.30 on BSE.

Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research  Analyst at HDFC Securities said, "The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. After the display of strength to move above the hurdle, one may expect present upside resistance (14,900) to be broken decisively on the upside in the short term. Any intraday consolidation or minor weakness from near the hurdle could be a buy on dips opportunity. Immediate support is placed at 14,750."

Bajaj Finance was the top Sensex gainer rising up to 8.32 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Nestle India, HCL Tech, L&T, TCS, Dr Reddy's and ITC were the top losers falling up to 0.96%. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 24 ended in the green. Market cap of BSE-listed firms swelled to 208.76 lakh crore in today's session.

Market breadth was positive with 1,792 stocks ending higher against 1,173 falling on BSE.

179 stocks were unchanged in trade today. BSE midcap and small cap indices rose 200 points and 151 points, respectively.

TVS Motor share hits 52-week high post strong Q4 earnings