Sensex gains by more than 400 points; Mahindra & Mahindra rallies by 6 per cent

Following gains in auto and IT stocks, domestic benchmark indices ended today's trading session on a positive note with Sensex gaining by 429.25 points or 1.21 per cent to close at 35,843.70 levels while Nifty increased by 121.65 points or 1.17 per cent to settle at 10,551.70.

After a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was found to be well tolerated in early-stage human trials, Asian shares reflected strong sentiments. Amidst Asian indices, Shanghai index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and KOSPI rallied by 2.13 per cent, 2.85 per cent, 0.11 per cent and 1.36 per cent respectively. European indices such as FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 were seen trading higher by 0.57 per cent, 1.58 per cent and 1.36 per cent respectively.

India's gold imports plunged by nearly 86 per cent YoY in June. This can be attributable to various factors such as its recent record high prices, ban of international air travel and closure of many jewellery shops amid the nationwide lockdown.

On Thursday, the Indian rupee settled at 75.01 per US dollar, its highest closing level since March 27.

In the Sensex basket, 22 stocks gained while eight stocks declined. Sensex gainers comprised Mahindra & Mahindra rallying by 6.05 per cent, Titan Company gaining by 3.98 per cent, HCL Technologies increasing by 3.45 per cent, Tata Steel rising by 3.43 per cent, Infosys gaining by 3.25 per cent, Maruti Suzuki increasing by 2.58 per cent, Bajaj Auto up by 0.93 per cent, etc. Sensex laggards included Axis Bank dropping by 2.24 per cent, HUL declining by 0.85 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank decreasing by 0.35 per cent, ICICI Bank falling by 0.34 per cent, Bharti Airtel down by 0.23 per cent, etc.

Amongst BSE sectoral gainers, the biggest gainer was IT index, up by 2.91 per cent followed by Auto index, Consumer Durables index and TECK index gaining by 2.83 per cent, 2.73 per cent and 2.34 per cent respectively. Bankex was the only sectoral index on BSE to close in red, down by 0.19 per cent. On a broader level, BSE small-cap index rose by 0.92 per cent while BSE mid-cap index gained by 1.04 per cent.