Sensex hits 35k intraday; trims gains to end 256 pts up

Mumbai

Benchmark indices ended sharply up on Friday at two-month highs, triggered by corporate earnings and taking cues from global peers.

The S&P BSE Sensex hit an intra-day high of 35,065, but pared gains to end at 34,970 levels, up 256 points. The broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,692, up 75 points.

In global markets, Asian shares edged higher, after US equities were buoyed by solid quarterly earnings and a rebound in technology stocks, while the euro languished near three-month lows after the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.4 per cent. South Korean equities were up 0.7 per cent.

Back home, Reliance Industries (RIL) hit a record high of Rs 1,000 per share, up 2.5% on the BSE in intraday trade on the BSE, ahead of its Q4FY18 results today. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 990 recorded on January 23, 2018 in intra-day deal. The textiles-to-telecom conglomerate, RIL is expected to post its best-ever quarterly consolidated net profit, with the figure expected to be close to Rs 100-billion mark.

Axis Bank gained 9% at Rs 540 per share on the NSE, despite the private sector lender reporting its first net loss of Rs 21.8 billion for the quarter ended March 2018 (Q4FY18).

Country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, reported a record annual profit of Rs 77.21 billion for the year ended March 31, 2018, helped by a double-digit growth in volumes of cars sold.

The Suzuki-promoted firm clocked a near 17 per cent jump in sales revenue for the year to Rs 781 billion. Profit, however, grew by just five per cent. An increase in effective tax rates and lower non-operating income due to mark-to-market impact on the invested surplus, compared to last year impacted net profit, the company said