Sensex, Nifty attain highest closing level in more than 10 weeks

19/03/2016 03:33 AST

Stocks of metal and mining firms, IT companies and index heavyweights HDFC and Reliance Industries (RIL) led the rally for key benchmark indices on the last trading session of the week. The Sensex rose 275.37 points or 1.12% to settle at 24,952.74. The Nifty gained 91.80 points or 1.22% to settle at 7,604.35.

Bank stocks edged higher after media reports suggested that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed commercial banks to hold bonds issued by state electricity utilities as part of the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme under the held-to-maturity (HTM) category. Shares of oil exploration and production firms rose after a surge in international crude oil prices. Shares of public sector oil marketing companies fell after a surge in global crude oil prices. GAIL (India) edged higher, with the stock extending previous trading session's gains triggered by the piped and natural gas regulator raising the tariff on the company's K.G. Basin natural gas pipeline network with effect from 1 April 2016.

Lupin tumbled amid speculation that widely followed investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is selling some of his stake. Torrent Pharmaceuticals edged higher after the company's announcement that it has successfully obtained the Establishment Inspection Report from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its plant located at Dahez SEZ, in Gujarat.

Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: New Zealand's NZX50 added 0.8% to 6623.50. Taiwan's Taiex index rose 0.9% to 8810.71. South Korea's KOPSI climbed 0.2% to 1992.12. Malaysia's KLCI rose 0.8% to 1716.34. Singapore's Straits Times index rose 0.9% at 2906.80. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index ended flat at 4885.71.

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