Equity indices close in the green, Reliance gains 3.6 pc after Vista invests in Jio

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 8 (ANI): Profit booking in financial, auto and metal stocks during the last hour of trading shaved early gains on Friday but equity benchmark indices closed in the green aided by Reliance Industries and Hindustan Lever.
Investor sentiment was up on expectations of an economic stimulus to cushion the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed 199 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 31,643 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 52 points or 0.57 per cent at 9,252.
Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty pharma up by 2.13 per cent, FMCG by 1.9 per cent and IT by 0.83 per cent.
Reliance Industries outperformed the benchmark index and climbed 3.48 per cent to Rs 1,559.45 per share after Vista Equity Partners announced an investment of Rs 11,367 crore in its Jio Platforms for a 2.32 per cent stake. This is Jio Platforms' third deal after Facebook and Silver Lake's share acquisition plans over the last two weeks.
Hindustan Lever jumped 4.3 per cent after Societe Generale reportedly bought 1.29 crore shares of the company at Rs 1,902 per share. The stock closed at Rs 2,077.85 per unit.
Nestle India and Britannia closed 3.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent higher while Sun Pharma gained by 3.9 per cent, Dr Reddy's by 3.6 per cent and Tech Mahindra by 3.6 per cent.
However, NTPC wound up the day 3.7 per cent lower. Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India and JSW Steel traded with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares rose as investors focused on talks between the US and Chinese trade officials and solid corporate earnings.
Japan's Nikkei added 2.56 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng moved up by 1.04 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.89 per cent.
A day earlier, US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic following upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 0.89 per cent, the S&P rose by 1.15 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.41 per cent. (ANI)