Sensex rallies 743 pts as Facebook dials Jio; RIL tops gainers' chart

Market benchmark Sensex jumped 743 points on Wednesday, propelled by index heavyweight RIL after Facebook anunced it will pick up 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for USD 5.7 billion.

Positive cues from global markets and Brent crude oil dropping to over two decade-lows also worked in favour of bourses here, traders said.

30-share BSE index ended 742.84 points or 2.42 per cent higher at 31,379.55. wider NSE Nifty surged 205.85 points, or 2.29 per cent, to finish at 9,187.30.

Reliance Industries was top performer in Sensex pack, rallying 10.30 per cent and contributing over half of index's gains.

Facebook anunced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms -- a deal that will help RIL cut debt and use WhatsApp to create an Indian e-commerce giant that could rival Amazon and Walmart.

largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in techlogy sector in India makes Facebook biggest mirity shareholder in Jio Platforms.

Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Nestle India, Hero MotoCorp and HUL were among or gainers, spurting up to 5.04 per cent.

Only four Sensex constituents ended in red -- ONGC, L&T, HDFC and PowerGrid, which shed up to 5.63 per cent.

"Market rose led by Facebook deal with Reliance Jio as investors reposed faith in select large-caps amidst shrink of ecomic activity due to lockdown.

"We witnessed furr strength in afteron trade as US Senate approved bill for a furr pack of $484bn," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

BSE energy index rallied 7.42 per cent, followed by auto, FMCG, oil and gas, bankex, IT and teck, which climbed up to 2.57 per cent.

Realty and capital goods indices ended on a negative te.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.78 per cent.

Global equities were largely positive as investors wred on more measures to boost growth and resume ecomic activities amid COVID-19 crisis.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended with gains, while Tokyo closed lower.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading significantly higher in early deals.

Brent crude futures slipped 2.16 per cent to USD 18.91 per barrel.

Meanwhile, rupee recovered from record low levels to settle higher by 15 paise at 76.68 (provisional) against US dollar.

number of COVID-19 cases in India inched closer to 20,000-mark, while death toll rose to 640.

pandemic has infected over 2.5 million people and killed more than 177,000. PTI ANS ABM ABM