Sensex closes 322 points higher marking biggest single-day gain in nine sessions; Bharti Airtel leads rally

The benchmark Sensex notched up its biggest single-day gain in last nine sessions on Friday surging 322 points as investors built up fresh long-positions on expectations that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would slash the repo rate, at which it lends to banks, in its credit policy on Tuesday.

On May 5, the index had gained 363 points, but turned volatile thereafter amid sluggish global markets sentiment and concerns over weak fourth quarter earnings.

The index closed the day at 27,828.44 points on BSE, up 321.73 points or 1.2 percent, after touching an intra-day high of 27,888.32 on strong all-round buying support. The 50-share CNX Nifty snapped its four session fall and ended 114.65 points higher or 1.4 percent at 8,433.65.

Market breadth ended positive with 1,440 stocks advancing against 1,231 declines on BSE.

On a month-on-month basis, the Sensex registered its first monthly gain in May over the previous two months, ending 817 points higher or up 3 percent. In previous two months (March & April), the index had ended 4.8 percent and 3.4 percent lower.

However, on a weekly basis, the Sensex registered first weekly loss in last three weeks, ending 0.5 percent lower.

Markets are also eyeing the January-March quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers, scheduled to be announced later in the day. On Thursday, credit rating agency Moody’s said India’s economic growth rate in the March quarter is likely to slip to 7.2 per cent from 7.5 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.

Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, surging nearly 6 percent to end at Rs 425.30.

Tractor and utitility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra rose nearly 5 percent to Rs 1,260.20. Earlier today, the company reported 38.61 percent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 550.56 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, hurt by slowdown in automotive and farm equipment segments. Net sales during the period under review stood at Rs 9,411.52 crore as against Rs 10,837.89 crore in the year-ago quarter, down 13.16 percent.

Oil major Gail gained 2.3 percent to Rs 389.90 and four-wheeler major Maruti was up 2.26 percent at Rs 3,785.45.

Coal India gained 2.1 percent at Rs 391.30, despite the company logging a 4.4 percent year-on-year fall in its net profit at Rs 4,238.55 crore. The firm’s total revenue increased 3.7 percent to Rs 21,339.55 crore.

Other gainers such as HDFC Bank, HeroMoto Corp, ITC, Axis Bank, L&T, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro were up over 1-2 percent each.

However, metal firm Hindalco bucked the upward momentum and ended 2.2 percent lower at Rs 129.15.