Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-Day Losing Streak; Bharti Airtel Hits Record High

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes snapped their three-day losing streak led by gains in Bharti Airtel, HDFC, ITC, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Earlier in the day, the Sensex surged as much as 711 points and the Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 9,000. However, due to weakness in banking shares, the benchmarks trimmed gains.

The Sensex ended 0.56 per cent or 167 points higher at 30,196 and Nifty 50 index advanced 0.63 per cent or 56 points to close at 8,879.

Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Media index's 2 per cent gain. Nifty Auto, IT, Metal and FMCG indexes were also up between 0.75-1.2 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank index was top loser, down 2.6 per cent. Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Pharma and Realty sector gauges also ended lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares were largely in-line with the benchmarks as the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.5 per cent while Nifty Smallcap100 index advanced 0.2 per cent.

Bharti Airtel was top Nifty gainer, the stock surged over 10 per cent to hit record high of Rs 594.65 as customers upgraded their data and calling plans and the telecom operator raised mobile tariffs, helping boost average revenue per user.

The company's average revenue per user, a key metric for the telecom sector, rose 25 per cent to Rs 154 at its mobile services business in the country during the quarter ended March 31.

Adani Ports, ONGC, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Bharti Infratel, ITC, Power Grid and NTPC were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, UPL, Vedanta, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, Cipla and Axis Bank were among the losers.