Stock markets rally for third day amid firm U.S. equities, foreign fund inflows

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rose for a third straight day on May 29 amid positive trends in the U.S. markets and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 344.69 points or 0.55% to settle at 62,846.38. During the day, it jumped 524.31 points or 0.83% to 63,026.

The NSE Nifty gained 99.30 points or 0.54% to end at 18,598.65.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 3.71% after the company reported an 18% jump in its consolidated profit for the March quarter and the highest-ever annual profit of ₹10,282 crore in FY23.

Titan, Tata Steel, HDFC, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, ITC, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finserv were the other major gainers.

HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai ended in the green, while Hong Kong settled lower.

European markets were trading mostly lower. The U.S. market ended with significant gains on Friday.

With days to spare before a potential first-ever government default, U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement Sunday on a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and worked to ensure enough Republican and Democratic votes to pass the measure in the coming week.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth ₹350.15 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.17% to $76.82 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark jumped 629.07 points or 1.02% to settle at 62,501.69 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 178.20 points or 0.97% to end at 18,499.35.