Sensex jumps 1,534 points, Nifty closes near 23,000; Jio IPO buzz lifts sentiment

The Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply higher on Thursday, October 15, defying weak cues from global markets as a combination of factors lifted investor sentiment towards equities.

The SENSEX rose as much as 1,548 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,056 led by gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Axis Bank and Tata Consultancy Services.

Sentiment turned positive after Jio Platforms announced dates for the country's biggest share sale via initial public offering (IPO), drop in crude prices and contra AI trade, that is a decline in tech shares in South Korea and buying in Indian IT companies also added to the positive sentiment on the street, analysts noted.

The SENSEX ended 2.11% or 1,534 points higher at 74,316 and NIFTY50 index surged 375 points or 1.66% to close at 22,997.

11 of 15 major indices compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY IT index's 1.8% gain. NIFTY Auto, Financial Services, Private Bank, Bank, Oil & Gas and Realty indices also rose between 0.7% and 1.8%.

On the other hand, FMCG, media, PSU bank and consumer durable shares faced selling pressure.

Broader markets underperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.4% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.31%.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Fairfax subsidiary M/s 10955230 Canada Inc as the strategic buyer for the government's 30.48% stake (for about ₹26,620 crore) and state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) 30.24% stake (for about ₹26,440 crore).

Latest reports suggest that the Supreme Court decided to quash the central government and Yes Bank’s appeal to write off the institutional lender’s Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds worth ₹8,415 crore, upholding the earlier Bombay High Court order.

Tech Mahindra was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 4.75% to close at ₹1,650.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, BSE, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and HDFC Bank also rose between 2.27% and 3.8%.

On the flip side, Nestle India, Adani Enterprises, Trent, Shriram Finance, Bharat Electronics, ONGC, Adani Ports and Larsen & Toubro were notable losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,218 shares ended lower while 1,343 closed higher on the NSE.