Closing bell: Sensex, Nifty end higher led by gains in autos, banking stocks; Zee Entertainment surges 7.5%

Indian benchmark indices ended higher on Thursday, driven by gains in metals, autos, and financials, tracking gains in Asian peers as dovish comments by US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell rekindled rate-cut hopes.

Asian shares rose with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticking up 0.8 percent after Powell reinforced prospects of an interest rate cut later this month.

The Sensex ended 266 points higher at 38,823, while the broader Nifty50 index added 84 points to end at 11,583. In broader markets, the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap index gained 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Buying was broad-based, with 42 of the 50 stocks in the broader Nifty trading in the green, while only ten stocks in Nifty50 ended in the negative territory.

Zee Entertainment, JSW Steel, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, and Tata Motors were top gainers on the Nifty50, while Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, UPL, Titan, and TCS led the losses.

All sectoral indices ended the day in the green. The Nifty Media rose the most, up nearly 4 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Metal added 1.8 percent and the Nifty Auto advanced 1.7 percent. Nifty PSU Bank gained 1.6 percent and Nifty Pharma was up 1.2 percent. The Nifty Financial Services, the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Private Bank indices were also positive for the day.

Nifty Media index surged nearly 4 percent led by gains in Zee, which rose 7.5 percent on hopes of the stake sale. Dish TV was also up 17 percent.

The metal index climbed 1.8 percent as the dollar eased on Powell’s comments. JSW Steel, Hindalco, Vedanta, Hind Zinc, and JSPL were up in the range of 1.8-5 percent.

IndiGo-parent InterGlobe Aviation fell for the second straight day, down 3 percent over concerns about the differences between co-founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal.

Religare Enterprises was locked in 10 percent upper circuit on Thursday after the company announced its plan to divest its entire stake in Religare Finvest to TCG advisory for an undisclosed amount.