Sensex jumps by nearly 500 points; Axis Bank gains by more than 6 per cent; Bajaj Finance remains the volume topper

Domestic benchmark indices closed higher with Sensex gaining by 498.65 points or 1.43 per cent at 35,414.45 while Nifty jumped by 116.20 points or 1.13 per cent to close at 10,418.30 level.  

European indices, FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 were trading lower by 0.52 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.67 per cent respectively. On Tuesday, China's central bank announced that it would cut the re-discount and re-lending rates by 25 basis points as of July 01 so as to reduce funding costs for smaller firms and rural sectors. Along with this development, improvement in China's factory activity data for the month of June led gains in Asian indices; Shanghai index gained by 1.38 per cent while Hang Seng rose by 0.52 per cent. Japan's Nikkei index declined by 0.75 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI index closed relatively flat, down by 0.08 per cent.

Amid a border standoff, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that India will not allow Chinese companies to participate in highway projects, including those through joint ventures. He also said that the government will ensure that Chinese investors are not entertained in various sectors like Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This may add to the pressure for various companies whose majority of raw and basic materials are resourced from China.

On Wednesday, telecom operator Vodafone Idea declared a staggering net loss of Rs 73,878 crore for FY20, the highest ever by any Indian firm, after it provisioned for Supreme Court mandated statutory dues. The company is required to pay Rs 51,400 crore as dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues. The company's stock on BSE fell by 4.33 per cent.

Rupee settled 9 paise lower at 75.60 against the US dollar.

Sensex winners comprised Axis Bank rallying by 6.58 per cent, Bajaj Finserv increasing by 5.58 per cent, HDFC gained by 4.59 per cent, Bajaj Finance rising by 4.43 per cent, ITC increasing by 4.16 per cent, IndusInd Bank gaining by 3.73 per cent, SBI Bank rising by 3.59 per cent, ICICI Bank increasing by 3.56 per cent, etc.

Sensex losers consisted of NTPC dropping by 2.40 per cent, Nestle India declining by 2.23 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra dipping by 2.18 per cent, L&T down by 2.10 per cent, ONGC decreasing by 1.11 per cent, Sun Pharmaceutical down by 1 per cent, etc.

Amongst BSE sectoral gainers, BSE Finance index rose by 2.74 per cent while BSE Capital Goods index was the biggest loser, down by 1.18 per cent.