IT, telecom stocks hog limelight

Mumbai: Climbing for the fourth straight day, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended in the green on Thursday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and intense buying in IT and telecom stocks. Buying in index majors Infosys and Reliance Industries (RIL) added to the optimism in the equity market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 348.80 points or 0.58 per cent to settle at 60,649.38 points. During the day, it jumped 397.73 points or 0.65 per cent to 60,698.31 points. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 101.45 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 17,915.05.

"Market traded firm on the monthly expiry day and gained over half a per cent. After the flat start, the Nifty index gradually inched northward and finally settled around the day's high to close at 17,915.05 levels. The majority of sectors contributed to the move wherein realty, IT and auto were the top gainers," said Ajit Mishra, V-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd.

"The domestic market is gradually shifting towards a positive terrain, supported by FII inflows and positive Q4 earnings from banks. On the global front, the US Q1 GDP number which will be unveiled today is anticipated to moderate on a QoQ basis amid concerns over banking contagion and a slowing economy.

The next week's FED policy will be keenly monitored," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,257.48 crore, according to exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.62 per cent and midcap index rallied 0.52 per cent.