Sensex extends gains on positive domestic cues

Mumbai: Rising for the fourth straight session, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed almost 90 points to close at 36,725.42 in choppy trade on Thursday amid a strengthening rupee and sustained foreign fund inflows.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty edged higher by over 5 points to close at 11,058.20. Among the Sensex constituents, Larsen and Toubro emerged as the top performer with a gain of 2.76 per cent after the company announced winning large contracts from domestic clients.

Other gainers in the 30-share Sensex pack were Mahindra and Mahindra, Axis Bank, ITC, SBI, HDFC, PowerGrid, Tata Motors, TCS, Tata Steel and Reliance, rising up to 1.77 per cent. On the other hand, Coal India, Sun Pharma, NTPC, ONGC and Yes Bank were among the major laggards, declining up to 3.09 per cent.

Other losers were Vedanta, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and Asian Paints. Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 12 ended with gains while 18 saw losses.

The Sensex started off the day on the positive note at 36,744.02 and hit a high of 36,830.25 and a low of 36,590.88. It finally settled at 36,725.42 -- 89.32 points, or 0.24 per cent higher.

The broader NSE Nifty opened at 11,077.95 and rose further to 11,089.05 in intra-day trade. The gauge touched the day's lowest level at 11,027.10. It closed at 11,058.20, showing a rise of 5.20 points, 0.05 per cent.

Investor sentiment got a major boost from a constant rise in the Indian rupee, which was trading 28 paise higher at 69.89 against the US dollar intra-day.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth Rs 1,130.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded equities to the tune of Rs 878.45 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed.

Asian markets showed weakness, tracking lower Wall Street stocks and awaiting fresh developments on the China-US trade front. A weaker-than-expected private US jobs data pulled US stocks lower.