Sensex rises over 250 pts; L&T, Axis Bank rally 3 pc

Market benchmark Sensex rose over 250 points on Thursday tracking gains in L&T, Axis Bank and Infosys, despite massive selloff in global equities. The 30-share BSE index was trading 233.92 points or 0.57 per cent higher at 41,349.30. Similarly, the broader NSE was trading 60.80 points, or 0.50 percent, up at 12,167.70.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Axis Bank were the top gainers in the Sensex pack, rising up to 2.77 per cent, after the companies posted positive quarterly numbers. After market hours on Wednesday, L&T reported a 15 percent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,560.32 crore for quarter to December 2019.

Likewise, Axis Bank posted a 4.5 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit at Rs 1,757 crore for the third quarter ended December 2019 amid improving asset quality. Shares of Infosys jumped 1.44 percent after the government said it was working with the managed service provider for the goods and services tax (GST) regime, to improve the performance of GSTN filing portal on a permanent basis.

On the other hand, HUL, Nestle, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra was trading in the red. According to traders, despite selloff in other Asian equities amid fears of contagion after a deadly new virus emerged from China, stock-specific action kept domestic benchmarks buoyed.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading significantly lower. Brent crude oil futures dropped 1.33 per cent to USD 62.37 per barrel. Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated marginally to 71.21 against the US dollar in morning session. In the previous session, Sensex settled 208.43 points, or 0.50 per cent, lower at 41,115.38; while the Nifty closed 62.95 points, or 0.52 percent, lower at 12,106.90.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 176.43 crore, while domestic institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 326.22 crore on Wednesday, data available with stock exchanges showed.