Fag-end buying lifts Sensex 114 points, Nifty above 18,100; Metal index up 4%

The key benchmark indices ended a rather listless trading session near the high’s of the day on the back of smart gains in metals and select financial shares.

The S&P BSE Sensex languished in the negative zone for the major part of the trading day, but eventually ended 114 points higher at 60,950 owing to the late buying. The NSE Nifty 50 settled with a gain of 64 points at 18,117.

Among the Sensex 30 shares, Bajaj Finserv surged 4.5 per cent to Rs 1,801. Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement vaulted 2.5 per cent each. SBI, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance were the other major gainers.

On the other hand, Dr.Reddy’s slipped 1.5 per cent. Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and HDFC Bank were the other notable losers.

The broader market, however, ended on a mixed note. The NSE Midcap index was down 0.3 per cent, while the Smallcap index added 0.4 per cent. India VIX declined 1.8 per cent on Friday.

Sectorally, the NSE Metal index surged over 4 per cent. The PSU Bank and Media indices were up a per cent each. The Pharma index, however, slipped a per cent.

Among individual stocks, shares of Amara Raja Batteries soared 9.5 per cent after the company’s net profit grew over 39 per cent YoY to Rs 201.22 crore in Q2FY23.

Shares of Karnataka Bank hit a multi-year high of Rs 143 as they surged 19 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade, in an otherwise range-bound market, amid heavy volumes. In the past three trading days, the stock of the private sector bank has zoomed 52 per cent.

Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPLC) slipped 4 per cent to Rs 203.55 on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade after the oil marketing company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,172.14 crore in Q2FY23 (2022-23). The stock was now trading closer to its 52-week low of Rs 200, recorded on October 20, 2022.

Shares of Adani Enterprises surged to Rs 3,850 in Friday’s intra-day trade and extended its gain to fourth straight day, after the company’s consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September (Q2FY23) more-than-doubled versus last year to Rs 461 crore. The company’s consolidated revenue, too, climbed nearly threefold year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 38,175 crore.

Here are some picks from the week gone by.