Sensex Closes 416 Points Higher Ahead Of GDP Data, Nifty Tops 10,700

Boosted by a late-session surge, the BSE Sensex on Thursday soared 416 points to close at 35,322. GDP data for the January-March quarter will be released later today. National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark index Nifty settled at 10,736, up 121 points. Strong buying was witnessed in banking as well as energy stocks. Thirty-four stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index finished in the positive zone. Top gainers on the index were HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra, ending with hefty gains of around 3-5 per cent each.

The government is due to release the GDP growth data at 5:30 pm.

India likely retained its position as world's fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, surpassing China's growth of 6.8 per cent. The median in a Reuters poll on the latest quarter's annual growth was 7.3 per cent, the best pace since July-September 2016, the quarter before the government unexpectedly scrapped high-value currency notes. Forecasts for January-March ranged from 6.9 to 7.7 per cent.

Equities in other Asian markets bounced back from a two-month trough after worries about a political crisis in Italy waned, while expectations that the domestic economy likely gained momentum in the first three months of 2018 buoyed investor sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.7 percent after slumping on Wednesday to its weakest since early April.

Global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service had on Wednesday cut India's GDP growth forecast to 7.3 per cent in 2018, from its previous forecast of 7.5 per cent, citing higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions. The agency, however, kept growth expectation for 2019 remains unchanged at 7.5 per cent.

Shares in Reliance Communications (RCom) rose 7 per cent, a day after the telecom said it expected to complete its asset sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm and Canada's Brookfield in the coming weeks.