Markets end at record closing high; Nifty hits 10,500, ends lower
The benchmark indices settled at record closing highs with the Nifty50 touching its crucial 10,500 in last leg of trade, but ended below that mark.
Broader indices the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices also hit their respective closing highs.
The Nifty IT (up 1%) and The Nifty PSU Bank (up 1.5%) were the leading sectoral gainers.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,570 shares rose and 1,173 shares fell. A total of 178 shares were unchanged.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 184.02 points at 33,940.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 52.70 points to 10,493.
Morepen Laboratories and D B Realty, from the S&P BSE Smallcap index, have rallied 50% each during the current week on back of positive development in these counters.
GNA Axles (up 4 percent) and Kilburn Engineering (up 10 percent) were trading at day’s high while ONGC and Granules India extended rally to 3-4 percent.
eClerx Services moved higher to its 52-week high of Rs 1,590, up 16% on the BSE in noon deal, after the company announced that its board approved buyback of shares at price of Rs 2,000 per share through tender offer.
Ultramarine & Pigments was locked at the upper circuit of 20% at Rs 354, also its 52-week high on the BSE, after Thirumalai Chemicals hiked its stake in specialty chemicals company by nearly one percentage point through open market.
Shares of Gautam Adani-led Adani Group and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADAG) Group companies were in focus for the second straight day and rallied by upto 10% in early morning trade on the BSE. Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone from the Adani Group were up in the range of 1% to 10%. Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Power, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and Reliance Naval and Engineering from the ADAG Group up between 1% and 8% on the BSE in intra-day trade.
Shares of information technology (IT) companies were trading higher with the Nifty IT index hitting 52-week high of 11,432 in intra-day trade on Friday after Accenture raised its revenue forecast for fiscal year 2018 after the company reported a better than expected first-quarter results. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and MindTree from the Nifty IT index were up more than 1%, while Polaris Consulting Services, Sonata Software, Hexaware Technologies, Ramco Systems, L&T Infotech and eClerx Service from the non-index stocks gain between 3% and 7%.
Aarti Industries hit 52-week high of Rs 1,130, up 8% on the BSE in early morning trade after the company said that its board approved the share buyback at price of Rs 1,200 per share through tender offer.
Britannia Industries share price gained nearly 2 percent intraday after Motilal Oswal has reiterated its Buy call on the stock with increased target price at Rs 6,100 per share (from Rs 5,845 per share).
Wind power tariff dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.43 per unit in an auction conducted by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) yesterday, boosting clean energy initiatives of the country.
HDFC announced sale of its subsidiaries HDFC Realty and HDFC Developers to Quikr India in an all stock deal that will give the financial services conglomerate a stake in the online classified platform now valued at over Rs 10,000 crore.
