Market at Close | Bharti Airtel, M&M and financials lift Sensex 941 points; Nifty tops 24,300

The equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended near the day’s high on Wednesday (May 6) after reports of the US nearing a deal with Iran to end the war lifted sentiment, with benchmark indices led higher by financial heavyweights, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The Sensex rose 941 points to close at 77,959, while the Nifty gained 298 points to settle at 24,331, reclaiming the 24,300 mark. The Nifty Bank index climbed 1,434 points to 55,981, while the Midcap index advanced 1,062 points to 61,323.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with market breadth firmly in favour of advances. The NSE advance-decline ratio stood at 3:1. Oil-linked shares saw divergent moves after Brent crude fell below $102 per barrel. Downstream oil companies gained, while upstream oil companies slipped.

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From the Sensex basket, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, Shriram Finance Ltd, Trent Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd

and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd were the major gainers.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, NTPC Ltd and Hindustan Unilever Ltd were the biggest laggards.

Among individual stocks, InterGlobe Aviation emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising more than 6% in trade. Coforge was the top midcap performer, surging 10% after its strong fourth-quarter results.

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Wockhardt extended gains from the previous session and jumped 13%. Firstsource rose 12%, and Arvind Fashions gained 10%, both after their quarterly results. SRFclimbed 8%, while Hero MotoCorp gained more than 1% after positive management commentary.

On the downside, Larsen & Toubro fell more than 1% after its fourth-quarter results missed estimates. Exide Industries declined more than 2% as commodity costs increased and management signalled price hikes.