Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex surged by 1,310 points while Nifty closed above 22,900 level on Friday on gains in banking, oil and metal shares as investors rejoiced the 90-day suspension of additional import duties by the US.
Defying a bearish trend in world markets, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 1,310.11 points or 1.77 per cent to settle at 75,157.26. During the day, it soared 1,620.18 points or 2.19 per cent to 75,467.33.
The NSE Nifty surged 429.40 points or 1.92 per cent to 22,828.55. In intra-day trade, the benchmark rallied 524.75 points or 2.34 per cent to 22,923.90.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped Rs 7,85,135.29 crore to Rs 4,01,67,468.51 crore ($4.66 trillion).
The US announced suspension of additional tariffs on India for 90 days until July 9 this year, according to the White House executive orders. On April 2, US President Donald Trump slapped universal duties on about 60 countries exporting goods to America and additional steep levies on countries like India, potentially impacting sales of products from shrimp to steel in the world’s biggest economy.
Tata Steel was the lead gainer among Sensex shares, rising by 4.91 per cent after the company announced a transformation plan, including job cuts, for its Netherlands steel plant to improve efficiency and margins.
HDFC Bank rose by 2.33 per cent, emerging as the biggest contributor to the Sensex’s rise. Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC and Adani Ports were among the gainers.
IT behemoth TCS dropped 0.43 per cent after the company reported a 1.7 per cent decline in the March quarter net profit due to lower margins. Asian Paints declined 0.76 per cent.
The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 3.04 per cent and midcap index rallied 1.84 per cent.
All BSE sectoral indices ended higher. Commodities surged the most by 3.40 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.92 per cent), utilities (2.76 per cent), power (2.64 per cent), energy (2.51 per cent), industrials (2.34 per cent) and consumer discretionary (2.25 per cent).
As many as 3,115 stocks advanced while 846 declined and 118 remained unchanged on the BSE.
World markets largely slumped amid growing concerns due to a tit-for-tat tariff war between China and the US.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index and South Korea’s Kospi settled lower while Shanghai SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended higher. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped nearly 3 per cent. European markets were trading lower.
US markets ended significantly lower on Thursday a day after a sharp rally. The Nasdaq composite tanked 4.31 per cent, S&P 500 slumped 3.46 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.50 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,358.02 crore on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.32 per cent to $63.53 a barrel.