Market update: BSE Sensex recovers 35 points, Nifty reclaims 8,400-level

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) index Sensex on Thursday snapped three-day falls to close 35 points higher at 28,067.56 powered by a late spurt in bluechips, led by Infosys, TCS, Cipla and SBI, amid the rupee breaching 62-mark against US dollar.

After surging to 28,118.53 points at the outset on emergence of buying, the 30-share barometer fell back to an intra-day low of 27,915.23 on some profit-taking.

A late round of buying helped the BSE index reclaim the 28,000-mark and it settled 34.71 points (or 0.12 per cent) higher at 28,067.56. The gauge had lost 145 points in previous two sessions.

Similarly the National Stock Exchange (NSE) index Nifty reclaimed the 8,400-mark by rising 19.60 points (or 0.23 per cent) to end at 8,401.90. The 50-issue NSE index shuttled between 8,353.15 and 8,410.85 intra-day. It had shed 48.45 points in the previous two sessions.

Gains in the key stock market indices were powered by Cipla that climbed 3.23 per cent after the drugmaker announced a pact with Serum Institute of India for distribution of paediatric vaccines in Europe.

Shares of Infosys and TCS gained 1 per cent each after the rupee weakened to a nine-month low of Rs 62.25 (intra-day) against the dollar at Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. IT firms revenues are denominated in US dollar and a weak rupee boosts margins.

Among the 30 Sensex scrips, 16 stocks ended with gains while 14 finished in the negative zone. Other bluechip gainers included SBI, Wipro, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Hindalco, ITC, ONGC, RIL, HUL and CIL.

Sensex laggards included Sesa Sterlite, NTPC, BHEL, M&M, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, GAIL and L&T.

Similar to last 3-4 trading sessions, markets opened almost flat over Wednesday's closing levels and remained sideways in a very narrow range throughout the trading session, said Hiren Dhakan, Associate Fund Manager, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 71.80 crore on Wednesday, according to data provided by stock exchanges.

Sectorally, the BSE IT Index gained the most by surging 1.27 per cent, followed by Healthcare (0.98 per cent), FMCG index (0.39 per cent) and Banking index (0.37 per cent).

On the other hand, the BSE Consumer Durables barometer fell 1.72 per cent, followed by BSE Realty and Metal index, which lost 1.52 per cent and 0.84 per cent respectively.