Sensex ends at two-week high, surges 416 points on F&O expiry; GDP data eyed

The Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Thursday to end at a two-week high on the back of buying in banking, energy and IT stocks amid a firming trend overseas. Covering-up of pending short positions on expiry of the May derivatives contracts and optimistic buying by participants ahead of GDP data added to the momentum. 

The Sensex ended at 35,322, up 416.27 points, while the Nifty settled at 10,736 points, up 121.80 points. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices didn't participate in the rally, slipping up to 0.5 per cent.

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market turned sharply negative. On the BSE, 1,683 stocks declined, 973 stocks rallied, while 131 stocks remained unchaned.

"Markets witnessed firework on F&O expiry day and gained over a percent, thanks to firm global cues and short covering in the end. The bias was positive from the beginning and strong up move in the banking majors triggered momentum in the last half an hour. However, weakness endured on broader front as a result the market breadth ended on negative note," said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking.

"Indications are positive and we believe Nifty will test 10,800 shortly. However, we're seeing limited participation thus focus should be on stock selection. Global cues, movement in crude oil price and progression of monsoon will dictate the market trend from hereon," he added.

The major gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and Hindustan Unilever, while Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and Dr Reddy's Lab were the major losers.

On the Nifty, the top gainers were Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank, while Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Titan lost the most. 

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On Wednesday, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 492.46 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold to the tune of Rs 1,286.91 crore, provisional data showed. 

Meanwhile, the Met department yesterday said the entire country is likely to get normal monsoon this year, except the east and northeast India, which is likely to witness "below normal" rainfall.