Sensex up 303 points, Nifty tops 16,200; banks, FMCG shine; metals sole losers
Benchmark indices exhibited range-bound trade on Friday as lack of fresh triggers kept indices directionless. The S&P BSE Sensex remained within a narrow range of 348 points, while the Nifty50 travelled 118 points during the day.
By close, the 30-pack index settled at 54,482 levels, up 303 points or 0.56 per cent. The Nifty50, meanwhile, shut shop with gains of 88 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 16,221. In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 0.2 per cent each.
L&T, PowerGrid, NTPC, ICICI Bank, DR Reddy’s Labs, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Nestle India were the top large-cap gainers, while M&M Financial Services, Oil India, SRF, Trent, Uttam Sugar, RateGain, and GR Infra surged in the broader market.
On the flipside, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, Crisil, Ashok Leyland, MFSL, RBL Bank, Ajmera Realty, PSP Projects, and Vakrangee were the top laggards across segments.
Among sectors, the Nifty Metal index was the sole loser, down 0.8 per cent. The Nifty Bank and FMCG indices, meanhile, were the outperformers, up 0.5 per cent each.
Sobha shares extended its rally on strong Q1 operational update as the price zoomed 25% in four days. Sobha said it achieved the highest ever quarterly sales volume of 1.36 million sft in April-June quarter (Q1FY23), up by 51.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Sequentially, the company’s sales volume rose by 1.21 per cent.
Shares of Himadri Speciality surged 11% on heavy volumes as the price zoomed 40% in one week. In the past six months, HSCL has outperformed the market by surging 75 per cent, as compared to a 9 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. However, in the last three years, the stock was down 19 per cent, against a 40 per cent rally in the benchmark index. It had hit a record high of Rs 197 on January 15, 2018.
Craftsman Automation rallied 6% as it hit an 8-month high on improved outlook. The company expects sustained improvement in business performance over the medium term driven by the recovery in offtake from automobile sector.
Shares of Voltamp Transformers have zoomed 77% in 2 months on strong results & MF buying. In Q4FY22, Voltamp’s sales grew by 36.3 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 387 crore driven by execution of healthy order inflows. Profit after tax (PAT), too, jumped 67 per cent YoY to Rs 51.9 crore from Rs 31.1 crore in Q4FY21.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
