Sensex Rises Over 300 Points On Wall Street Rally, But Is Set For A Monthly Decline

Indian benchmark equities rose on Friday tracking a rally on Wall Street with solid earnings reports offsetting gloomy US economic data but were still set for a monthly decline.

The volatility in global stocks which have gone through wild gyrations not withstanding, traders grapple with the global economic fallout from the Russia-Ukraine crisis, demand impact of stringent lockdowns in China and stagflation risks worldwide.

The 30-share BSE Sensex index rose over 300 points to about 57,800 and the broader NSE Nifty gained nearly 80 points to about 17,300 in early trades on Friday, but were set to close out April lower.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) extended gains to a fourth session, rising 1.3 per cent to scale a record high of 2,856.15 rupees. 

All Nifty sub-indexes were trading in positive territory with Nifty's Pharma sub-index leading the pack, up 2 per cent.

Varroc Engineering soared 20 per cent to its highest since January 2020 after the auto components' maker said it would divest its 4-wheeler lighting systems operations in the Americas and Europe.

Wipro rose 1.1 per cent and Maruti Suzuki India gained 0.7 per cent ahead of their March-quarter results.

On Thursday, the BSE rose 700 points to about 57,521, and the broader NSE Nifty gained 1.2 per cent to 17,245, after having fallen nearly 1 per cent in the previous session.

On Tuesday, the Sensex had jumped nearly 800 points to around 57,356, while the Nifty had risen almost 1.5 per cent to about 17,200, after both the indexes had declined over 1 per cent on Monday.

Asian shares clung on to small gains on Friday thanks to a solid Wall Street session, but were still set for their worst month in two years, as China growth fears and looming US interest rate hikes dragged on sentiment and sent the safe-haven dollar soaring to two-decade highs.