Sensex gains 350 pts, Nifty near 19,550; PSBs lead

Equity benchmark indices held firm gains on Thursday, tracking recovery in global markets as US yields eased from record highs and crude oil cooled off to $86 per barrel.

The BSE Sensex rose 350 points to 65,575, and the NSE Nifty50 gained 84 points to 19,520.

Among Sensex gainers, TCS, Titan, Infosys, Tech M, Tata Motors, Ultratech and L&T rose 1 per cent each. On the Nifty, BPCL and Hero Moto led gains, while Divi’s Labs lost 0.9 per cent.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose up to 0.9 per cent.

All sectors were in green, led by Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank indices that gained 1 per cent each.

Among stocks, Marico slipped 3 per cent as its Q2 domestic volumes grew in low-single digits on a YoY basis. Rising food prices and below-normal rainfall impeded expected recovery in rural demand during the quarter, it said.