Sensex climbs 168 points on RIL earnings; positive global cues

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex climbed almost 168 points in early session today as sentiments rose with Reliance Industries' better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings numbers which were announced yesterday.

This apart, a firming trend in other Asian markets, taking strong cues from the US and European markets following Emmanuel Macron's first round presidential election win in France, boosted trading sentiments here.

The 30-share index, which had rallied 290.54 points in yesterday's session, soared 167.59 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 29,823.43, with all the sectoral indices led by realty, oil and gas, healthare and metal supporting the upside. Similarly, the NSE Nifty spurted 44.60 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 9,262.55.

Brokers said that continued buying by domestic institutional investors and retailers following RIL's healthy numbers announced post trading hours yesterday, mainly lent momentum to trading activity.

RIL shares climbed 2.18 per cent, to Rs 1,447.30, in early trade after the company reported a 12.3 per cent jump in its January-March quarter net profit at Rs 8,046 crore on the back of higher refining and petrochemical margins.

Other gainers included M&M, Wipro, HDFC Ltd, L&T, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Lupin and Dr Reddy's.

Globally, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.84 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang rose 0.98 per cent in early trade today. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 1.05 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.