Closing Bell: Markets extend gains for 2nd day in row; Sensex surges over 1,000 points, Nifty above 16,900 – Bajaj twins rally 10% each

Surging for the second straight session, the Indian markets closed on Thursday on a higher note amid positive global cues. The BSE Sensex surged over 1000 points and Nifty50 closed above 16900 levels, led by IT, financial and metal stocks today. 

At the market close, the BSE Sensex gained by 1,041 points or 1.87 per cent to 56,857,79, while Nifty50 surged by 287.8 points or 1.73 per cent to 16,929.6. The broader markets underperformed the benchmarks, as both Nifty Mid and Small cap each gained around 1 per cent at the close. 

Among 50 scrips on Nifty, 40 advanced and 10 moved southward. Bajaj twins – Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were top Nifty gainers, up by more than 10 per cent each. The former jumped on highest ever quarter profit in Q1 and the latter on the announcement of bonus issue and stock split. 

Bajaj Finserv’s board has approved the sub-division of equity shares in a 1:5 ratio and announced the issuance of bonus shares with a face value of Re 1 each for every full paid-up equity share of Re 1.  

Besides, Tata Steel too became one of the top gainers, up over 4.5 per cent as the company shares have started trading as ex-split today, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank gained over 4 per cent. While IndusInd Bank, SBI Life, Infosys, and Nestle India each gained between 3-4 per cent at close. 

On the contrary, Shree Cement became top Nifty laggard, down over 3 per cent after the company announced its June-end quarterly results, followed by Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement each declined over 1 per cent.  

Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy’s, ITC, Tata Motors, Coal India, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp slipped between 0.1 to 1 per cent in trade today at the close.  

Sectorally, almost all sectors closed in the green with Nifty IT gaining most by almost 3 per cent, followed by Nifty Financial and Nifty Realty each up over 2 per cent. While Nifty Bank and Metal indices each gained over 1.5 per cent at the market close on Thursday.