Banking heavyweights power Sensex above 76,000; Nifty closes above 24,000

The Sensex rose 1,074 points to close at 76,489, while the Nifty gained 312 points to settle at 24,032, reclaiming the 24,000 mark. The Nifty Bank index outperformed broader benchmarks, rising 1,238 points to 55,294, while the Midcap index advanced 577 points to 61,967.

From the Sensex basket, Eicher Motors Ltd, Adani Enterprises Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd were the major gainers.

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Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Tata Consumer Products Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and ICICI Bank were the biggest laggards.

Bank of India and Eicher Motors were among the top contributors to the Nifty’s gains. Hindalco Industries emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty Bank index. ICICI Bank rose more than 2% after the Reserve Bank of India approved a two-year extension for Sandeep Bakshi as Managing Director and CEO.

Suzlon Energy was the top Nifty gainer, rising 6% after reporting healthy fourth-quarter results. Downstream oil companies gained, while upstream oil companies declined as Brent crude prices fell near $98 per barrel.

Poly Medicure declined nearly 1% amid profit booking after posting strong fourth-quarter earnings. VRL Logistics erased part of its gains and fell nearly 3% from the highs after reporting a 6% year-on-year decline in fourth-quarter net profit.

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Bank of India dropped 5% after its fourth-quarter net profit fell 28% year-on-year. Petronet LNG gained nearly 4% after securing an order for 715 vehicles from the Bank of India. Petronet LNG, Bank of India and Petronet LNG were among the top gainers in the midcap segment. Market breadth remained firmly positive with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 2:1.

In the currency market, the rupee ended at a two-week high of 95.23 against the U.S. dollar. The currency has appreciated for three straight sessions and gained 1.7% over the last three days.

The rupee is now up nearly 2% from its record low of 96.96 touched on May 20 and has recovered most of the losses recorded this month. It had ended April at 94.91 against the dollar.

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