Closing Bell: Sensex rises 255 points to close at 37,582, Nifty also up by 77 points

Extending gains for the second straight session, the BSE Sensex jumped 255 points on Friday on expectations of measures from the Centre to revive economic growth and address tax concerns.

Reports of a meeting between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to put together a package to boost investor sentiment too lifted the market mood, traders said.

After rallying 480 points during the day, the 30-share Sensex settled 254.55 points or 0.68 per cent higher at 37,581.91. It hit an intra-day high of 37,807.55 and a low of 37,406.26.

The broader NSE Nifty jumped 77.20 points or 0.70 per cent to 11,109.65. During the day, it hit a high of 11,181.45 and a low of 11,062.80.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Vedanta, HDFC twins, HUL, Kotak Bank and ICICI bank, which surged up to 3.36 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank was the biggest laggard, cracking 7.91 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ITC and Sun Pharma too fell up to 2.50 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the 30-share index finished at 37,327.36, showing a jump of 636.86 points or 1.74 per cent. While, the NSE Nifty climbed 176.95 points or 1.63 per cent to 11,032.45.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack during early trade included PowerGrid, Vedanta, HDFC twins, Hero MotoCorp, RIL, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, L&T and HCL Tech, rising up to 2 per cent.

While, Tata Motors, M&M, TechM, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Yes Bank, Infosys and TCS fell up to 1.41 per cent.

According to experts, expectations of multiple measures from the government to revive economic growth after Sitharaman and finance ministry officials met captains of the industry on Thursday led the rally in domestic equities.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Kospi and Nikkei ended on a mixed note. Equities in Europe were trading in the red in their respective early sessions.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated 12 paise to 70.81 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.73 per cent to USD 57.80 per barrel.