Sensex soars 1,047 points, Nifty tops 17,250; HDFC jumps 5.5%, Paytm drops 6%

Indian equities rose in-line with global markets as they cheered progress on ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. That apart, investors also welcomed a 25-bps rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, which was on expected lines.

The benchmark indices ended near the day’s high level at 57,864, up 1,047 points or 1.84 per cent. The Nifty50, meanwhile, zoomed 312 points or 1.84 per cent to settle at 17,287. Both the indices had hit an intra-day high of 58,096 and 17,345, respectively.

HDFC was the top index gainer today, rallying 5.4 per cent on the NSE. JSW Steel, Titan Company, SBI Life, RIL, Kotak Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Nestle India, and Eicher Motors were the other notable gainers, up between 3 and 5 per cent.

Only four large-cap counters ended in the red, including Infosys, Cipla, Indian Oil, and HCL Tech. All these stocks dipped between 0.4 and 1 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 1 per cent each.

For the week, the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices climbed over 4 per cent while the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices zoomed 2 per cent each.

Sectorally, the Nifty Realty index advanced over 3 per cent today, ending as the top sectoral gainer for a second straight day. The Nifty Financial Services, Bank, and Metal indices edged between 2 and 2.5 per cent higher.

Shares of Titan Company hit a record high of Rs 2,718.65, on rallying 5 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade on expectations of strong earnings growth.

Shares of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group companies tanked up to 19 per cent, hitting respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after Future Retail (FRL) said on Wednesday that it was committed to taking all actions necessary to seek value adjustments and reversal of takeover of stores by the Reliance Group.

Paytm shares dropped over 6 per cent after Macquarie slashed its target price to Rs 450. The stock has crashed around 71 per cent from its issue price.

Shares of Voltas jumped 4 per cent to Rs 1,325 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after the company approved a proposal to enter into a joint venture (JV) arrangement with Highly International (Hong Kong) Limited.

Shares of Nxtdigital (NDL) surged 17 per cent to Rs 486.20 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after its board accorded in-principle approval for the merger of Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLFL), into the company.

Shares of Trent hit an all-time high of Rs 1,262.80, rallying 8 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade amid expectations of strong earnings backed by robust recovery in revenue. The stock of Tata Group company surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,211.95 touched on January 19, 2022.

Here are some picks from the week gone by.