Sensex jumps 186 points, PSU banks and telecom stocks gain

Equity benchmark indices ended higher on Tuesday due to buying in the PSU bank, telecom and energy stocks.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 186 points higher at 40,470 while the Nifty 50 edged up by 56 points to 11,940. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank gaining by 3.88 per cent. Nifty auto, FMCG and metal were in the negative zone.

Shares of telecom major Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel surged ahead after both companies said they will increase mobile tariffs from December to arrest revenue fall. The development came amid reports that the government will step in to help the cash-strapped sector.

Vodafone Idea closed 34.68 per cent higher at Rs 6.02 per share while Bharti Airtel gained by 8.66 per cent at Rs 444.65 per scrip and Bharti Infratel by 10.96 per cent at Rs 251.65.

Reports said oil-telecom-to-retail major Reliance Industries became the first company among listed entities on exchanges to hit a market capitalisation of Rs 9.5 lakh crore. The stock rallied 3.59 per cent intraday and crossed Rs 1,500 mark for the first time to close at Rs 1,511.55 per share.

The other prominent gainers were Axis Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Cipla, Grasim and State Bank of India.

However, Yes Bank dropped by 2.5 per cent to Rs 64.20 per share after Morgan Credits, Rana Kapoor and Yes Capital reportedly sold the remaining 0.8 per cent stake in the company. Mahindra & Mahindra, Zee Entertainment, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Steel too were in the negative terrain.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets were mixed as traders awaited clearer outcomes on the US-China trade negotiations. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 1.55 per cent while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.53 per cent and South Korea's Kospi dropped by 0.34 per cent.

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