Sensex soars 453 pts, Nifty reclaims 10,800-mark on F&O expiry, rupee rally

The BSE Sensex rose for the fourth straight session Thursday, rallying over 450 points on short-covering as the November derivatives series ended amid a robust rally in the rupee. Positive global cues after dovish comments from US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also boosted investor sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share Sensex settled 453.46 points, or 1.27 per cent, higher at 36,170.41, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 129.85 points, or 1.21 per cent, to finish at 10,858.70.

The rupee jumped 74 paise to breach the 70 per dollar mark and touched 69.88 -- a three-month high -- in intra-day trade amid sustained selling of the greenback by exporters and easing crude oil prices.

"With a significantly lower Brent and a stronger rupee, the equity market traded with absolute buoyancy, covering the broader markets as well," said Joseph Thomas, Head Research, Emkay Wealth Management.

According to him, one key factor which has breathed new life into the markets is the statement from the Fed Chairman that US interest rates remain just below neutral.

"This was seen as a signal that the Fed is probably close to the end of the tightening cycle. Notably, this statement was in sharp contrast to the earlier statement around the last FOMC meeting that there was still a 'long way' for the Fed to tread before the right levels are attained," he added.

Any ease in global trade tension after G20 meet this weekend will further boost global sentiment, analysts said.

Top gainers of the session included Bajaj Auto, Kotak Bank, M&M, Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, HUL, HDFC, ITC, Tata Steel and Tata Motors, rallying up to 5 per cent.

However, ONCG, PowerGrid, NTPC, Infosys, Yes Bank and Sun Pharma fell up to 1.33 per cent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 961.26 crore Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 330.29 crore, provisional data with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Kospi rose 0.28 per cent, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.39 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.87 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.32 per cent.
In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.60 per cent and Paris' CAC 40 0.80 per cent. London's FTSE gained 0.58 per cent.