Mumbai

Amid mixed global cues and a strengthening rupee, the Sensex advanced 86 points on Thursday aided by a steep rise — 19 per cent at one point — in Yes Bank stocks after it announced the appointment of its new MD and CEO.

The broader Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange settled higher by 18.30 points at 10,849.

While the banking and finance sector paired early losses on the BSE and managed to end in the green, telecom and auto stocks closed 1.95 per cent and 0.85 per cent down respectively.

“Stock markets in India continue to trade with uncertainty, echoing the cautious note being witnessed globally,” said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

“Overseas, most European and Asian stock markets traded mixed amid uncertainties surrounding the global economic outlook as well as the ongoing US-China trade fight.”

Globally, investors were also cautious ahead of the vote in the US senate to reopen the government.

The BSE Sensex closed 86.63 points up at 36,195.10, after touching a high of 36,258.28 and a low of 35,996.68.

The benchmark index opened higher on Thursday, at 36,146.55 points, from its previous close of 36,108.47.

The broader Nifty50 ended up by 18.30 points or 0.17 per cent at 10,849.80.

“Nifty ended with moderate gains after bouncing back from a low of 10,798. The gains were driven by a rally in Yes Bank, Reliance Industries and TCS. The Nifty index ended 18.3 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 10849.8,” said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.

Stock-wise, the top gainers was Yes Bank after it said that RBI had approved the appointment of Ravneet Singh Gill as its new MD and CEO.

Other top gainers were Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC and State Bank of India.

In contrast, Tata Motors (DVR), Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Coal India and Bajaj Auto lost up to 3 per cent.

“Technically, with the Nifty bouncing back from the 50-day SMA (simple moving average), the Nifty index could continue to trade in a range for the near term. Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,798, while upside resistance is at 10,867,” said Jasani.

The rupee gained 27 paise to settle at Rs71.07 per US dollar from its previous close of 71.34.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold Rs944.5 million (Dh48.73 million) worth of stocks on Thursday while the domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs3.89 billion worth of stocks.