Closing Bell: Ahead of assembly election results, Sensex, Nifty surge over 2%

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty jumped more than 2% after a positive start despite a mixed trend across global markets and rising oil prices.

In today's trading session investors globally remained cautious tracking newsflow on the Russia-Ukraine war, while in India all eyes are on the five state assembly election results to be declared tomorrow.

The Indian market surged for the second straight session on Wednesday led by strong buying interest in financial and automobile stocks. Also, a good action was seen in aviation stocks after the Indian Government lifted pandemic-related restrictions on international flights.

At the closing bell on March 9, the Sensex was up 1,223.24 points or 2.29% at 54,647.33, and the Nifty was up 331.90 points or 2.07% at 16,345.40. On the market depth, around 2585 shares have advanced, 681 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty gainers of the day were Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, M&M and IndusInd Bank. On the flip side, Shree Cements, Power Grid Corporation, ONGC, NTPC and Coal India were the biggest losers. Among the buzzing stocks, Asian Paints was the top gainer as it surged 6.12% to Rs 2,890.

On the sectoral front, except metal, all other sectoral indices ended in the green with capital goods, auto and realty indices up 2-3%. In the broad market, the BSE smallcap and midcap indices gained 2% each.

Overall, Asian stocks struggled for footing as investors assessed the impact of a worsening conflict in Ukraine and the US ban on Russian oil. Ever since the war between the two neighbouring European countries broke out, the bond yields in India and the dollar/rupee combination have reacted sharply. Many economists concur that inflation is unlikely to be a temporary blip and expect it to continue in the medium term.

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