Stock Market Updates: Sensex Rises 100 Points, Nifty Above 23,550; Bharti Airtel Up 7%

Indian equity markets began on a positive note on Thursday, defying the largely subdued Asian trend. The BSE Sensex started around 102 points higher at 77,440 levels, while the Nifty was at 23,533, up 17 points.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI Life, L&T, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Tata Motors, and M&M were the top gainers on the benchmarks, rising up to 1.7 per cent, while Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life, Divis Labs, Nestle India, and ONGC were the top laggards.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index was unchanged, and the BSE SmallCap eked out 0.27-per cent gains.

Among sectors, the Nifty Bank, Private Bank, and Realty indices added 0.7 per cent each. The Nifty Pharma, on the flipside, fell 0.6 per cent.

Global Cues

Japan’s Nikkei declined 0.70 per cent, contrasting with Korea’s Kospi which saw a gain of 0.13 per cent. Australia’s ASX200 witnessed a marginal decrease of 0.03 per cent.

In the preceding trading session, European markets closed with slight declines. The UK’s FTSE rose 0.17 per cent driven by inflation figures aligning with forecasts. Conversely, Germany’s DAX fell by 0.35 per cent while the FTSE in the UK increased by 0.60 per cent.