FIRST TRADE: Sensex jumps over 350 points, Nifty tests 19,550 amid broad-based gains

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmark began the day in the green driven by buying across sectors,  tracking positive moves across global markets.

Both indices rose as much as 0.6 per cent within the first few minutes of trade. The Sensex rose 385.3 points to touch 65,818.6 at the strongest level of the day so far, and the Nifty climbed as high as 19,554.8, up 110.8 points, from its previous close. Financial, defence, aerospace, IT, oil & gas and FMCG shares were the biggest contributors to the upmove on Dalal Street.

Adani Enterprises, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement and BPCL, which traded around 1-2 per cent higher, rose the most among the 49 gainers in the Nifty basket. On the other hand, Jio Financial Services and Eicher Motors, down five per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, were the only laggards in the pack. 

ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys were the biggest boosts for both main gauges.

Aerospace and defense stocks continued to see buying interest, a day after India created history with the success of its Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. While Hindustan Aeronautics, BHEL and L&T registered gains of 1-2 per cent in early deals, stocks such as MTAR Technologies and Paras Defence rallied, trading 7.6 per cent and 12 per cent higher respectively. HAL, L&T, Paras Defence, MTAR Technologies, Centum Electronics, and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd hit their respective 52-week high on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, market participants awaited minutes of the RBI's last policy review due later in the day for more clarity on the central bank's take on interest rates going forward. 

BUZZING STOCKS 

Coforge was up over 1 per cent after reports about a likely block deal of 1.6 crore shares surfaced where promoter Hulst BV (Baring Private Equity Asia) may sell the entire stake in the IT company. 

Paytm parent One97 Communications' shares were up over one per cent after Bernstein initiated coverage on the stock with an 'outperform' rating.

Procter & Gamble Health declined more than four per cent after the company posted a mixed set of results for the June quarter.

Jio Financial Services hit the lower circuit for a fourth straight session since its listing. 

Vascon Engineers shares were up over five per cent after the company received a letter of acceptance for an order worth Rs 605.7 crore. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asian shares mostly rose on Thursday following the best day on Wall Street since June amid easing pressure in the US bond market. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.6 per cent at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.4 per cent. 

On Wednesday, the three main US indices, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, finished 0.5-1.6 per cent higher. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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