Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 17 (ANI): Indian equity benchmark indices ended sharply higher on Friday, with the Sensex surging nearly 965 points and the Nifty gaining over 1 per cent, led by strong buying in IT and banking stocks amid optimism over business updates and expectations of healthy first-quarter earnings.

The BSE Sensex closed at 78,151.45, up 964.58 points or 1.25 per cent, while the Nifty 50 settled at 24,334.30, gaining 261.55 points or 1.09 per cent.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, market momentum is shifting towards large-cap stocks, particularly in the IT and banking sectors.

'There is a shift in market momentum, with strong traction moving toward large-cap stocks, led by the IT and banking sectors. This is supported by optimism around business updates and Q1 earnings expectations. The trend appears to be driven largely by domestic institutional investors rotating out of expensive mid- and small-cap stocks and into more attractively valued large caps that offer a better risk-reward profile. At the same time, buying interest is emerging in consumer durables on expectations of healthy domestic demand in H2FY27. The broader market remains constructive, with a combination of selective profit booking and buying, as the overall outlook for India continues to improve,' he said.

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, all sectors except pharma, metal and consumer durables ended in the green. Nifty IT gained 1.75 per cent, Nifty Auto advanced 1.24 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank also posted strong gains, with the private banking index rising by more than 2 per cent at the close.

Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 were Tech Mahindra, Kotak Bank, Jio Finance, TCS and ICICI Bank. The major losers included Hindalco, Dr Reddy's, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Apollo Hospital and Max Health.

Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President - HNI & Derivatives at Hedged.in, said the rally reflected renewed buying interest in the market.

'Today's strong rally reflects renewed buying interest and improving market sentiment. As long as benchmark indices continue to hold above their immediate support levels, the broader outlook remains bullish. Traders may continue to adopt a buy-on-dips strategy while maintaining disciplined risk management,' he said.

Meanwhile, Brent crude prices remained elevated, rising 2 per cent to USD 85.88 per barrel at the time of reporting. The Indian rupee also remained under pressure against the US dollar and was trading at Rs 96.28 per USD.

In the broader Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 4.89 per cent to close at 63,720, Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.54 per cent to 5,509, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.09 per cent to end at 24,497. (ANI)