Sensex Jumps Over 150 Points; Tata Steel Rallies 4%

Mumbai: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade Friday led by banking stocks amid unabated foreign fund inflow.

The 30-share index was trading 152.41 points or 0.39 per cent higher at 38,883.27, and the NSE Nifty rose 50.90 points or 0.44 per cent to 11,692.70.

In the previous session, the BSE bourse slumped 323.82 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 38,730.86, while the Nifty declined 84.35 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 11,641.80.

Tata Steel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 4.31 per cent, after the company Thursday reported a rise consolidated revenue to Rs 1,59,089.57 crore, up from Rs 1,24,990.79 crore.

The company, which after many years of being the No 2 to JSW Steel, became the largest alloy maker with an annual output of close to 20 MT in FY19.

It, however, reported a sharp 84.37 per cent fall in consolidated net income at Rs 2,295.25 crore for the three months to March due to high base last year.

The company had booked a net income of Rs 14,688.02 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, boosted by an "exceptional" gain of Rs 11,376 crore.

Axis Bank too rose 1.77 per cent after the private lender Thursday reported a net profit of Rs 1,505 crore for the March quarter of 2018-19, driven by a significant decline in provisioning and higher interest income.

Other gainers in morning session were HCL Tech, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, NTPC, ITC, L&T, TCS, RIL and SBI, rising up to 1.53 per cent.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Kotak Bank, HDFC and Vedanta were among the top losers, shedding up to 2.62 per cent.

Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp Yes Bank, HDFC AMC and HDFC Life Insurance are among the companies that are scheduled to announce their March quarter results on Friday.

According to traders, investor sentiment was buoyed by firm buying on banking counters. Sustained foreign fund inflows too lifted market mood.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth Rs 3,785.73 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 4,069.98 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The rupee appreciated 12 paise to 70.13 against the US dollar in early trade.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.24 per cent lower at USD 74.17 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a negative note in early trade.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended in the red on Thursday.