Sensex, Nifty Feb F&O series settle with gains; BHEL jumps 10 per cent, ONGC zooms 5 per cent, Adani Green slips

After an eventful trading session on Wednesday, the domestic markets remained comparatively calm on Thursday with Sensex surging 257.62 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 51,039.31 levels while Nifty rose by 115.35 points or 0.77 per cent to end at 15,097.35 levels. 

The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty gained by around 8 per cent in February series but comparatively, underperformed when the broader markets reported higher gains. 

Supported by positive global cues, shares inched higher during today's trading session with majority of gains being witnessed in metal and PSU stocks. 

On Thursday, the global stocks jumped after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed that the interest rates would stay low for a long time. Asian indices such as Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Nikkei, and KOSPI rose by 0.59 per cent, 1.20 per cent, 1.67 per cent, and 3.50 per cent, respectively. European indices such as FTSE 100 and CAC 40 were seen trading higher by 0.48 per cent and 0.54 per cent, respectively. 

Sensex gainers were made up of ONGC that jumped 4.66 per cent, NTPC surged 4.55 per cent, RIL inched higher by 3.84 per cent, IndusInd Bank gained 3.70 per cent, Axis Bank increased by 2.94 per cent, Power Grid rose by 2.29 per cent, etc. 

Sensex losers included ICICI Bank that plunged 2.10 per cent, Nestle India fell by 1.45 per cent, Larsen & Toubro decreased by 1.20 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank inched lower by 0.98 per cent, Titan Company declined by 0.80 per cent, HDFC went down by 0.74 per cent, etc. 

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, the Energy index was the biggest gainer, up by 3.92 per cent while the FMCG index was the biggest loser, declining by 0.24 per cent. BSE Oil & Gas index rose by 3.52 per cent while BSE Metal index gained 3.38 per cent. Meanwhile, BSE Small-Cap index was up by 1.42 per cent and BSE Mid-Cap index rose by 1.09 per cent.