Sensex soars 265 points as new F&O series opens strong; easing India-Pakistan tensions revive sentiments

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied about 265 points to 36,132 in early session on Friday as the March derivatives series took off on a strong footing and foreign fund inflows fuelled the uptrend. The 30-share Sensex spurted by 264.99 points, or 0.75 percent, to 36,132.43 in early trade. The gauge had lost over 346 points in the previous three sessions due to geo-political tensions between India and Pakistan. However, signs of ease in tensions between the two countries since Thursday evening helped in reviving trading sentiments on domestic bourses. On the macro-economic front, however, traders might take a cautious look at country’s economic growth slowing down to a 5-quarter low of 6.6 percent in October-December period, analysts said. Economic growth estimate for the current fiscal year ending March 31 has been revised downwards to 7 percent from the earlier estimate of 7.2 percent. This is the lowest growth in the last five years. Overall sentiments meanwhile turned upbeat on chances of de-escalation of tension with Pakistan, brokers said. [caption id=“attachment_4406205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of stock broker. Reuters.[/caption] Unabated buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) also supported, they said. Reflecting the bullish mood, all sectoral indices of BSE led by metal, bankex and IT were in the positive zone, rising by up to 0.95 percent. The NSE Nifty jumped 76.65 points, or 0.71 percent, to 10,869.15. Shares of Vedanta Ltd was on the top among Sensex components, rising 2.74 percent, while Yes Bank gained 1.60 percent. Other gainers include Tata Motors, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, TCs, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, HUL, HDFC Ltd, Bajaj Finance, SBI, RIL, Coal India, L&T and ITC Ltd, rising up to 1.18 percent. Brokers said investors were busy in creating new positions following the beginning of the March futures and options (F&O) series that led to the rally in the market. Meanwhile, on a net basis, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 3,210.6 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,240.62 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed. A firming trend in the rest of Asia also accelerated buying activities. Japan’s Nikkei quoted 0.89 percent higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.31 percent in the early part. China’s Shanghai Composite Index too up by 0.22 percent and Straits Times gained 0.40 percent. The US Dow Jones ended 0.27 percent lower on Thursday.