Agencies
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended the last day of trade of the 2023-24 fiscal on a bullish note on Thursday, driven by heavy buying in power, auto and banking stocks amid a positive trend in global markets.
Extending its previous day's rally, the 30-share index jumped 655.04 points or 0.90 per cent to settle at 73,651.35.
During the day, it zoomed 1,194 points or 1.63 per cent to 74,190.31.
The NSE Nifty climbed 203.25 points or 0.92 per cent to end at 22,326.90.
In the 2023-24 financial year, the BSE benchmark jumped 14,659.83 points or 24.85 per cent, and the Nifty soared 4,967.15 points or 28.61 per cent.
From the Sensex basket, Bajaj Finserv jumped nearly 4 per cent, and Bajaj Finance climbed nearly 3 per cent.
Shares of Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv jumped amid media reports that subsidiary Bajaj Housing Finance was planning to go public.
Nestle, State Bank of India, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other major gainers.
In contrast, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries were the laggards.
In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Tokyo and Seoul ended lower.
European markets were trading mostly in the green. Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent to a record 5,248.49 in its first gain since setting its last all-time high on March 21.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,170.32 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
“Indian equities closed the day and fiscal year on an optimistic note, with volatility by the end of the session, as buying by retails, DIIs, and FIIs surged across categories,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.42 per cent to $86.40 a barrel.
Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for ‘Good Friday'.
