Banks lift Sensex 390 pts, Nifty reclaims 16,700; Ultratech Cement up 5%

CLOSING BELL

Stock market update: Benchmark indices staged a one-way rally, surging nearly a per cent on Friday, despite tepid global cues. The frontline S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 390 points to close at 56,072. The index hit an intra-day high of 56,186. 

The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 16,719, up 114 points. It hit a high of 16,752. Ultratech Cement, Grasim, UPL, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Eicher Motors, and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, ralling over 2 per cent each. Infosys, Tata Consumer Products, NTPC, and Power Grid, on the other hand, shed over 1 per cent.  

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank added 1.6 per cent, followed by the Nifty PSU Bank index (up 1.5 per cent). The Nifty IT fell 0.6 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap index fell 0.2 per cent, but the BSE SmallCap index added 0.2 per cent.

FPIs make a comeback

Overseas investors have bought a net $1 billion of local stocks in the first three days of this week, according to the latest available exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts them on course for the first weekly purchases since April. They dumped almost $30 billion of shares in the year through last Friday. READ MORE