Optimistic on ‘stay’, Sensex rises 237 pts

MUMBAI: After a cautious start to trading on Thursday, the Sensex closed up 237 points, in line with strong gains in Europe-based shares, as investors saw fewer

MUMBAI: After a cautious start to trading on Thursday, the Sensex closed up 237 points, in line with strong gains in Europe-based shares, as investors saw fewer chances of Britain leaving the European Union.

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The BSE index closed up 237 points, or 0.9%, to 27,002.22, while the NSE Nifty gained 67 points, or 0.8%, to 8,270.45.

The rupee closed at 67.25 against the US dollar, surging 24 paise.

Shares of companies with exposure to the UK saw revival in buying. Tata Motors rose 3.28%, Bharat Forge gained 2.03%, Hindalco climbed 1.52% and Tata Steel went up 0.53%.

Shares of Dr Reddy’s Lab climbed 2. 18%. Among IT stocks, which get 6% to 18% of their revenues from the UK, Infosys rose 1.08% and Wipro gained 0.12%.

Late opinion polls showing a slender lead for the ‘remain’ camp over ‘leave’ camp, and the strong gains in European stocks raised optimism among investors on the ongoing EU referendum, said Gaurang Shah, vice-president, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Among the sectoral indices, bankex rose 1.61%, followed by auto (up 1.09%), finance (up 1.08%) and industrials (up 0.83%).

Regulators, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Wednesday said it was keeping a close watch on Brexit developments, and would take all necessary steps such as liquidity support to ensure orderly conditions in the financial markets.

According to experts, long-term trends remained positive for India, given the expectations of a good monsoon this year and the economy gaining momentum, and hence markets are unlikely to take a major hit.