Sensex ends 260 points higher led by gains in ITC, RIL; Nifty tops 22,050

From the Sensex stocks, , , , , and ITC were the top gainers, rising 2-3%. Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, and Reliance Industries also closed higher. On the other hand, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC Bank, and M&M ended with cuts.

Nifty Oil & Gas rose 1.2%, led by a 4.5% rise in Bharat Petroleum Corp after its March-quarter results. FMCG, Metal, Healthcare, and Consumer Durables also closed over 1% each.

Among individual stocks, closed 16% higher after a spike in zinc prices. The commodity's price on the London Metal Exchange rose over 2% to $2,955, led by positive China trade data, which reflected growth in imports and exports in April.

shares also surged 16% after the company's net profit jumped over two-fold on-year to Rs 104.2 crore and total income rose by 57% YoY to Rs 1,121.3 crore in Q4FY24.

Meanwhile, the of all listed companies on BSE increased by Rs 3.25 lakh crore to Rs 396.59 lakh crore. The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the bulls. About 2,191 stocks gained, 1,610 declined, and 130 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Experts View
"Short covering buoyed by strong overseas market cues helped key benchmark indices end in positive territory, although the overall sentiment still remains cautious with bouts of intra-day volatility. Investors would be watchful of their equity exposure over the next few weeks as any adverse news on the election front could trigger massive sell-off going ahead," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities.

Tejas Shah, Technical Research at JM Financial & BlinkX, said, "Support for the is now seen at 21,950-22,000 and 21,700-800 levels. On the higher side, the immediate resistance zone for Nifty is at 22,200-250 levels and the next resistance is at 22,500 Mark. Overall, the trend remains negative.

Global Markets
The MSCI All-World index was up 0.13%, as equities in Asia and Europe took their lead from a rally on Wall Street overnight, after data showed the number of people filing for jobless benefits for the first time rose more than expected, suggesting the U.S. economy is beginning to slow.

The STOXX 600 rose 0.9% towards record highs on Friday, heading for one of its strongest weekly performances this year. U.S. stock futures were up 0.4-0.5%.

Oil rises above $84
Global benchmark Brent hovered above $84 a barrel on Friday after data this week signalled growing demand in the U.S. and China, the world's two largest crude users, while festering conflict in the Middle East added support.

Brent futures were up 51 cents to $84.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 57 cents to $79.83.

Rupee Ends Flat
The Indian rupee closed nearly flat on Friday, tracking subdued moves in its Asian peers and as expectations of the central bank's intervention blunted the pressure of dollar demand from local oil companies and foreign banks.

The rupee ended at 83.50 against the U.S. dollar, barely changed from its previous close at 83.5025. The local currency declined nearly 0.1% week-on-week.

(With inputs from agencies)
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