Sensex adds 86 points; GNFC, JK Paper surge 12% each, auto stocks slide
Benchmark indices bucked the weak Asian trend and rose on Friday as the Assembly elections’ euphoria extended into a second day. However, developments around the Ukrainian war, commodity prices, and the US inflation data kept the markets volatile through the day.
The S&P BSE Sensex hit a high of 55,834 in early deals but eased off to end at 55,550, up 86 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, settled at 16,630, up 35 points or 0.2 per cent.
The breadth was well-balanced as equal number of stocks advanced and declined on both the frontline indices. The gainers included Cipla, Sun Pharma, BPCL, JSW Steel, Dr Reddy’s Labs, IOC, Power Grid, Coal India, and ITC, while the losers were Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Britannia, Axis Bank, Hindalco, NTPC, Eicher Motors, and TCS.
In the broader markets, the Midcap index (up 0.45 per cent) and the Smallcap index (up 0.87 per cent) on the BSE outperformed the benchmarks.
Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma index was the best performing index, rising 2.5 per cent on the NSE. The Nifty Auto index, on the other hand, slipped 0.4 per cent.
Among individual stocks, shares of BSE Ltd hit a record high of Rs 2,868 after they rallied 10 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Friday’s intra-day trade.
That apart, shares of paper companies, including JK Paper, Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper, West Coast Paper Mills, Ruchira Papers and Star Paper Mills rallied up to 14 per cent on Friday, amid heavy volumes, on expectation that re-opening of offices, educational institutions, and courts will lead to regularization of demand.
Sugar stocks, too, were on a roll on Friday with frontline stocks like Balrampur Chini Mills, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Avadh Sugar & Energy and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries hitting their respective record highs. These shares rallied up to 11 per cent each in the intra-day trade on strong outlook and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) buying.
Laurus Labs surged 6% to hit over 4-month high as analysts remain optimistic on the company’s outlook for FY23 & FY24 with new capacity addition for commercial usage for FDF and API segments, ARV business and robust growth expected in CS business.
Shares of Cipla hit a record high of Rs 1,014, up 3 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade and surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,005 touched on September 29, 2021. The stock of pharmaceutical company traded higher for the fifth straight day, up 6 per cent during this period.
Shares of Sarda Energy & Minerals surged 6% and hit an all-time high of Rs 1,024.95 on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade on expectation of healthy earnings going ahead.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
