New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Realty stocks were in the limelight on Thursday, with Sobha Ltd rising sharply by over 16 per cent, amid an overall optimistic equity market.

Shares of Sobha zoomed 16.20 per cent, Macrotech Developers jumped 9.38 per cent, Godrej Properties rallied 7.96 per cent and DLF climbed 6.42 per cent on the BSE.

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Prestige Estates Projects rose 6.19 per cent, Brigade Enterprises soared 6.09 per cent, Oberoi Realty surged 5 per cent, Mahindra Lifespace Developers (4.44 per cent) and Phoenix Mills (3.14 per cent).

The realty index jumped 6.61 per cent to 6,644.67.

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"The realty sector was the highest gainer in anticipation of robust demand in the residential category, which was supported by healthy housing loans disbursement data announced by banks," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Bouncing back from a two-day slide, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 490.97 points or 0.69 per cent to settle at 71,847.57. During the day, it rallied 598.19 points or 0.83 per cent to 71,954.79.

"The realty index has outperformed the broader market in 2023, marking a strong turn since the RBI paused on rate hikes in March 2023. A potential rate cut could actually help the affordable housing segment more," Naveen K R, smallcase manager and senior director at Windmill Capital, said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)