Sensex settles 178 points higher; defence stocks rally up to 12%
Benchmark indices climbed off the day’s top but still ended around 0.5 per cent higher on Friday amid buying in IT, auto, and FMCG counters.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,021, up 178 points or 0.5 per cent, having risen to as high as 36,110 earlier in the day. The Nifty50 index settled above the 10,600 level at 10,607, up 56 points or 0.53 per cent. India VIX slipped 3 per cent to 25.69 levels.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 2.41 per cent while Nifty added 2.16 per cent.
Bharti Airtel (up 4 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (up 2.5 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers. Reliance Industries gained 1.5 per cent after the company announced that Intel has invested Rs 1,894.5 crore in Jio Platforms for a 0.39 per cent stake.
Further, shares of defence companies rallied in the trade and climbed up to 12 per cent on the BSE after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the purchase of weapons and equipment worth Rs 38,900 crore. Bharat Dynamics ended 12.55 per cent higher at Rs 375.80 on the BSE while Bharat Electronics gained 9 per cent to Rs 97.25
Moreover, JB Chemicals rose 3 per cent during the day after it said global investment firm KKR will pick up a controlling stake of 54 per cent in the company. The stock, however, ended flat. Meanwhile, HDFC Life gained around 4.5 per cent as the company will replace Vedanta on Nifty with effect from July 31.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.56 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.47 per cent
Shares of Balkrishna Industries (BKT) hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,316, up 3 per cent on the BSE on Friday, on the expectation of strong earnings going forward. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,298 touched on February 20, 2020. It was trading higher for the sixth straight day. In the past two months, the stock of BKT has rallied 49 per cent, as compared to a 13.4 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
Shares of Opto Circuits were locked in upper circuit for 13th straight day, up 5 per cent to 52-week high level of Rs 19.85 on the BSE on Friday. However, the stock tumbled 9 per cent from its intra-day high and was locked in 5 per cent lower circuit at Rs 18.05. Till 11:25, a combined 3.13 million equity shares had changed hands and there were pending sell orders for 3.92 million shares on the BSE and NSE, the exchange data shows.
Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank surged 5 per cent to Rs 22.15 on the BSE on Friday after Business Standard reported that Singapore-based private equity player Clermont Group is in talks to pick up a sizeable stake in the bank. This round of capital infusion, if approved, could help LVB increase its capital adequacy from 3.45 per cent as on December 31, 2019, to over 7-8 per cent.
Shares of insurance companies were in focus on Friday, with HDFC Life Insurance Company rallying 5 per cent to Rs 576 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), after the exchange announced the inclusion of the insurance company in the Nifty 50 index from July 31. HDFC Life Insurance Company will replace Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta in the benchmark index, the exchange said in a release on Thursday.
Shares of Motherson Sumi Systems Limited (MSSL) slipped 9 per cent to Rs 94.30 on the BSE on Friday after the company said its board has approved a major restructuring exercise, under which the domestic wiring business (DWH) would be demerged into a new firm, which will eventually be listed. For every share held in MSSL, one share would be allotted in the new firm.
Shares of Cadila Healthcare surged 5 per cent to Rs 380 on the BSE on Friday after the company said its vaccine candidate for Covid-19 (ZyCoV-D) has received the permission from DGCI for human clinical trials. In an exchange filing, the company said it has received the approval from Drug Controller General of India – Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (DCGI-CDSCO) to initiate Phase I/II human clinical trials for its Covid-19 (plasmid DNA) vaccine.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
