Sensex climbs 307 pts, Nifty closes above 19,750,IT stocks shine

The Indian equity market indices extended gains for the second consecutive session on Thursday as sentiments turned buoyant amid fresh foreign inflows and buying in IT counters.Information technology (IT) stocks lifted Indian blue-chip indexes after a weak start in early trade, though a drop in metals after a four-day rally and a fall in non-banking lender Bajaj Finance capped gains.At close, the Sensex was up 306.55 points, or 0.47 percent, at 65,982.48, and the Nifty was up 89.75 points, or 0.46 percent, at 19,765.20.
Stocks and Sectors
Hero MotoCorp, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Technologies and Infosys were top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Axis Bank, Coal India, Power Grid Corporation, Tata Consumer Products and Adani Enterprises.
On the sectoral front,the information technology index gained nearly 3 percent, while realty, oil & gas and auto were up 1 percent each.BSE midcap and smallcap indices added 0.5 percent each, hitting fresh highs of 39,563.13 and 33,370.16, respectively.
On 16 Nov'23, the Indian rupee declined by 14 paise to settle at 83.23against the US dollar on Thursday due to foreign fund outflows and a firm greenback in the overseas markets.Losses in crude oil prices, however, helped the rupee restrict the fall, forex dealers said.
Experts Take:
Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy for Thursday-TCS, Tata Motors, HDFC Life, PNB Housing Finance, SP Apparels, MRPL.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)