Sensex up 595 pts, exit polls, trade talks lift hope

MUMBAI: Exit polls in Bihar that indicated a continuation of the NDA govt in the state, and positive news on the ongoing US-India trade negotiations lifted investor sentiment on Dalal Street on Wednesday.

As a result, sensex closed 595 points (0.7%) up at 84,467 points while nifty on NSE closed 181 points (0.7%) higher at 25,876 points. The end of the longest US govt shutdown, that lifted global markets, also had a rub-off positive effect on the Indian market. The day's session also witnessed the listings of Billionbrains Garage Ventures that runs the Groww financial services platform, and Tata Motors, the recently demerged commercial vehicles company of the Tata Group.

The day's session opened with the sensex rallying to an intra-day high at 84,652 points, up nearly 800 points on the day, but end-of-the-session profit taking pulled it down a bit from the day's high. A similar trend was observed in Nifty also. According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, globally markets rallied on renewed risk appetite, driven by optimism over the anticipated resolution of the US govt shutdown and growing expectations of interest rate cuts by the US central bank.

"Emerging markets outperformed, reflecting the improvement in global sentiment. Indian indices mirrored this strength, with large-cap stocks leading gains. The day's session added about Rs 4.8 lakh crore to investors' wealth with BSE's market capitalisation now at Rs 473.7 lakh crore, official data showed. During the day, Groww, the biggest broking house in India in terms of number of clients, listed at Rs 112, a 12% premium to its IPO price and closed the day at Rs 131. The tech-driven financial services company now has a market cap of nearly Rs 81,000 crore, making it the biggest such company in terms of market value. The demerged Tata Motors was also listed on the bourses on Wednesday. The stock closed the day at Rs 328 and a market cap of Rs 1.2 lakh crore.