Sensex Gains 147pts, Nifty Up On Global Trends

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 147 points to settle above 81,000 level while Nifty closed above 24,800 following buying in commodity, telecom and consumer stocks amid a firm trend in global markets.

Rising for the third straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 147.89 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 81,053.19, registering gains for the third day in a row. During the day, it climbed 331.15 points to hit an intra-day high of 81,236.45.

Extending gains to a sixth session in a row, the NSE Nifty went up by 41.30 points or 0.17 per cent to end at a two-week high of 24,811.50.

Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 1.63 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Titan, Asian Paints and Ultratech Cements.

On the other hand, M&M, NTPC, Tata Motors, TCS and PowerGrid were the major losers.

"The domestic market witnessed modest gains owing to the positive global sentiments. Particularly, the recent signs of weakness in the US non-farm payroll data have strengthened the case for potential interest rate cuts in September," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 0.47 per cent, and the midcap index climbed 0.67 per cent.

"Markets are closely monitoring global indices for direction, and the recent pause in US markets ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium is leading to some caution locally also," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

"Investors are waiting for the outcome of the Fed chair's speech at the Jackson Hole meeting on Friday, which could provide some indication on whether the Fed would announce a rate cut next month," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the indices, Telecommunication surged by 1.60 per cent, Commodities by 1 per cent, Consumer Durables by 0.91 per cent, Services by 0.70 per cent, FMCG by 0.59 per cent, Metal by 0.57 per cent and Realty by 0.49 per cent.

Utilities, Power, Oil & Gas, Energy and IT were the laggards

In the broader market, Awfis Space Solutions jumped 9.54 per cent to close at Rs 863.25 apiece. In the intraday trade, it advanced 19.99 per cent to hit its 52-week high of Rs 945.70 after the company expanded its footprint in Bengaluru.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd shares rallied more than 7 per cent after the company said its board will consider a proposal to raise up to Rs 4,500 crore through issuance of shares.

On the other hand, scrip of Adani Power fell a little over 3 per cent amid media reports that the promoters of the company may sell stakes in Adani Power and Ambuja Cements to trim debt.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong closed with gains, while Shanghai ended in the negative territory on Thursday.

European markets were trading with significant gains in the mid-session deals.

The US stock markets gained in overnight trade on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again turned sellers on Wednesday as they offloaded equities worth Rs 799.74 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.21 per cent to USD 76.21 a barrel.