FINAL TRADE: Bulls dominate D-Street; Sensex rallies 556 pts; Nifty settles at 19,435.3

Stock market today:  The Indian equity indices scaled higher after a muted start after data showed the economy grew at its quickest pace in a year in the first quarter, which could boost foreign investor inflows. The market participants will now keep an eye on US jobs data.

The BSE Sensex rallied 555.75 points, or 0.86 per cent to settle at 65,387.16, and the NSE Nifty surged 181.5 points, or 0.94 per cent to close at 19,435.3 levels.

In the broader market, Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Small Cap 100 closed on a strong note.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Bank was up 1.02 per cent 44,436.1.

NIFTY 50 STOCKS

NTPC, Jio Financial Services, ONGC, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel were the major winners. On the flip side, Cipla, HDFC Life Insurance, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Netsle India, and UltraTech Cement were the top laggards.

TECHNICAL VIEW

"Considering the above parameters, we change our short-term outlook on the index to positive. On the upside, we expect the Nifty to target levels of 19,650. In terms of levels, the crucial support zone is placed at 19,330 – 19,300 and the immediate hurdle is placed at 19520–19,550," said Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Gedia added that the Bank Nifty has also witnessed a sharp pullback. It has held on to its 20-week moving average support (44,144) and also closed in the green. "We expect the pullback to continue over the next week as well. We expect Bank Nifty to target levels of 45,000 from a short-term perspective," the analyst added.

BUZZING STOCKS

Railtel Corporation of India was up nearly 16 per cent. 

BHEL shares were up over 12 per cent after the company received robust new order inflows.

Torrent Pharma shares were down nearly 3 per cent after reports that the company was likely to submit a non-binding bid to acquire a stake in the promoters of pharmaceutical giant Cipla.

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Global shares were trading mostly higher Friday as investors looked towards a US jobs report being released later in the day.

France's CAC 40 edged up nearly 0.1 per cent in early trading to 7,321.92, while Germany's DAX was little changed at 15,948.02. 

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent to 7,477.41. US shares were set to drift higher, with Dow futures up 0.3 per cent to 34,878.00. S and P 500 futures rose 0.2 per cent to 4,525.75.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent to finish at 32,710.62. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 per cent to 7,278.30.

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