Sensex gets a 259­-point lift on reforms boost

MUMBAI: A day after the Cabinet cleared a pay hike for its employees and approved a new exploration policy, the Sensex on Thursday wiped off its Brexit losses suffered

MUMBAI: A day after the Cabinet cleared a pay hike for its employees and approved a new exploration policy, the Sensex on Thursday wiped off its Brexit losses suffered last week, soaring 259 points, in line with a global rally.

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This is the strongest quarterly show of the market in two years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election win in 2014.

The BSE benchmark closed higher by 259.33 points, or 0.97%, at 26,999.72. The gauge had gained 342.68 points in the previous three sessions.

The NSE Nifty settled at 8,287.75, up 83.75 points, or 1.02%.

Auto and consumer durables stocks remained in the limelight as companies looked forward to strong growth in sales this year due to implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 28 ended higher led by Dr Reddy’s (up 3.38%) and NTPC (up 3.17%).

Among the sectoral indices, realty rose 2.39%, followed by power (up 2.19%), metal (up 1.74%) and banking (up 1.46%).

Globally, Asian markets ended higher, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 1.75% and Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.06%,