After opening the day lower, Indian benchmark indices staged a remarkable comeback in the second half as the session progressed and ended the day on firm footing.

Benchmark equity indices ended the week's last trading day in positive territory.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 843 points (up 1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 219 points (up 0.9%).

ITC, HUL, and Bharti Airtel are among the top gainers today.

Hindalco, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,859 up by 224 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and BSE SmallCap index ended marginally lower.

Sectoral indices were trading mixed with stocks in the FMCG sector, telecom sector, and IT sector witnessing the most buying speer. Meanwhile, stocks in the realty sector and metals sector witnessed selling pressure.

Page Industries, CRISIL, and Infosys hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 84.81 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.7% lower at Rs 77,435 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 1.1% lower at Rs 91,596 per 1 kg.

Here are the three key factors that drive the market's momentum.

#1 Buying in Heavyweights

The rebound in markets was largely driven by strong buying in heavyweight stocks across sectors. Gains were led by Bharti Airtel (up 3.96 percent), followed by ITC, Hindustan Unilever, HCLTech, and UltraTech Cement.

#2 Sectoral Gains

Gains in financial services, telecom, IT, FMCG, oil & gas, and auto stocks fuelled the recovery, reversing earlier declines.

IT stocks also extended their rally, with the Nifty IT index climbing for the fifth straight session to a fresh high of 46,088.90, bolstered by gains in HCL Tech, Infosys, and TCS.

#3 Mixed Global Cues

While Asian markets displayed mixed trends, European indices saw gains following the ECB's expected 25-basis point rate cut.

Germany's DAX gained 0.3% and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%
 

Bharti Airtel Stock Jumps 4%. Here's Why

In news from the telecom sector, shares of Bharti Airtel surged over 4% on 13 December, clocking in its biggest intraday gains in seven weeks.

Alongside that, the stock also emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index.

Trading volumes in the counter also surged which further strengthened the upmove in the stock.

As much as one crore shares of Bharti Airtel changed hands on the exchanges so far, already exceeding the one-month daily traded average of 7.6 m shares.

The stock has also delivered robust gains this year, surging close to 62% as 2024 draws closer to its end.
 

Why Vodafone Idea Share Price is Rising

Moving on, Vodafone Idea's share price rose on Friday after the company announced a robust capital expenditure plan of Rs 500-550 bn crore over the next three years, aimed at bolstering its 4G and 5G network capacity and coverage.

In an investor presentation, the company said that it had already spent over Rs 20 bn on capital expenditure in the first half of FY25, resulting in a 14% increase in its 4G data capacity. The 4G population coverage also grew significantly, adding 22 million new users during the period.

For the second half of FY25, Vodafone Idea plans to ramp up its spending, with an estimated Rs 80 bn earmarked for network expansion and service improvement.

The telecom operator also hinted at the possibility of further tariff hikes, stressing that an uptick in prices is essential to ensure reasonable returns and support future investments.

Before the recent tariff hike in July 2024, the last tariff hike was taken in Nov 2021.

The company is one of the leading telecom service providers in India. It is engaged in the business of mobility and long-distance services, trading of handsets, and data cards.

The company's business services include voice services, broadband services, content services, enterprise services, and other VAS offerings like entertainment, SMS, utility, etc.

Bajel Projects Zooms 10%

Moving on to news from the engineering sector, Shares of Bajel Projects skyrocketed 10%, bucking a weak market on 13 December, buoyed by the company's latest order win.

The company secured a contract from Solapur Transmission, a project company of Torrent Power, for the supply of goods and services for the establishment of a new 400/220 KV substation in Maharashtra.

The contract encompasses design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, civil work, testing, and commissioning of a 400/220 KV substation, along with the setup of two 400 KV line bays at Power Grid Solapur.

The project is slated for completion within 15 months of receiving the letter of award (LoA).

Along with the strong buying momentum, trading volumes in the counter also surged.

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