Sensex, Nifty end flat; Star Health settles at issue price; PSBs shine


The key benchmark indices languished in the negative zone, exhibiting lackluster movement for the major part of the trading, before recouping losses at close led by fresh buying in auto and financial shares.

The BSE benchmark index, the Sensex, opened 110-odd points lower at 58,697, and after briefing sneaking into the positive zone, fell to a low of 58,415 – down nearly 400 points. However, the Sensex eventually ended the day with a minor loss of 20 points at 58,787. In the process, it did snap its three-day winning streak. For the week, the BSE index was up 1.9 per cent (1,091 points).

The NSE Nifty declined to a low of 17,405, before settling six points lower at 17,511.

Asian Paints was the major gainer among the Sensex 30 stock, it surged 3 per cent to Rs 3,277. SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra and TCS were the other notable gainers. On the flip side, Titan, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank were the notable losers in trade on Friday.

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Sensex ends at fresh closing peak of 48,782, up 689 points; Nifty at 14,347


Earnings optimism and positive global cues fuelled a broad-based rally in the markets with benchmark indices settling over a per cent higher on Friday. IT stocks led from the front and contributed nearly half of Sensex’s 600-point gains today. Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, and L&T provided the remaining fillip to the BSE barometer.

The S&P BSE Sensex notched 689 points, or 1.43 per cent, to end at fresh closing peak of 48,782.5. The index hit a new lifetime high of 48,854.34 levels earlier in the day. The Sensex index gained 2 per cent during the week and clocked the longest stretch of weekly gains since 2009.

Maruti Suzuki jumped 6 per cent and remained the top Sensex gainer, followed by Tech Mahindra, up 5 per cent. The IT company today entered the elite Rs 1-trillion market capitalisation club, becoming the fifth IT firm to achieve the feat. At close, its m-cap was Rs 1.01 trillion.

That apart, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) hit a record high of Rs 3,127.55 apiece in the intra-day trade and closed 3 per cent higher ahead of the announcement of Q3FY21 results. The IT firm’s revenue in constant currency (CC) terms is expected to rise in the range of 2.4-4 per cent on quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis while it may grow between 3-4.5 per cent in dollar revenue.

The broader Nifty50 too, ended at fresh closing peak of 14,347, closing 210 points or 1.48 per cent higher on the NSE. 41 of the 50 constituents ended the day in the green. The index touched lifetime high of 14,367 in noon deals today. For the week, the index was up 2.3 per cent.

In the mid-cap space, S&P BSE MidCap index, though underperformed the frontline index, settled 1 per cent higher at 19,138.7 level after hitting a record peak of 19,161 earlier in the day, and clocked a 5-per cent weekly gain. The S&P BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, ended at 18,908.59 levels, up 0.72 per cent.

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Financials lift indices; Sensex up 282 points, Nifty ends at 12,859


Buying in financial counters such as HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Bajaj Finserv helped benchmark indices settle over 0.6 per cent higher on Friday.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 282 points, or 0.65 per cent higher at 43,882 levels while NSE’s Nifty ended at 12,859, down 87 points, or 0.68 per cent.

Bajaj Finserv ended as the biggest gainer on Sensex – up over 9 per cent to Rs 8,536.50 while Reliance Industries (down nearly 4 per cent) was the top loser. Of 30 constituents, 23 advanced and 7 declined.

Wockhdart was locked in upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 393 on the BSE. The stock of pharmaceutical company was trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 412 touched in February 2020. The trading volume jumped over three-fold with a combined 6.3 million shares changing hands. There were pending buy orders for 250,000 shares on the BSE and NSE, exchange data show.

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Indices end flat on Friday, Nifty settles at 11,214; Asian Paints up 4%


The benchmark indices ended on a subdued note on Friday; however, the mid and small-cap indices logged decent gains during the session.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 38,041, up 15 points or 0.04 per cent with Asian Paints (up over 4 per cent) being the top gainers and Titan Company (down over 2.5 per cent) the biggest loser. NSE’s Nifty50 ended at 11,214, up 14 points, or 0.12 per cent. India VIX dropped over 3 per cent to 22.37 levels.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 200 points or 1.4 per cent to end at 14,219 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed the session at 13,669, up 106 points, or 0.78 per cent.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.15 per cent while Nifty added 1.26 per cent.

The sectoral trend on the NSE was mixed. While IT and pharma stocks fell, auto, metals and financial stocks gained. The Nifty IT index slipped 1 per cent to 18,004 levels while the Nifty Pharma index ended at 11,333, down 0.6 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Metal gained 0.85 per cent and Nifty Auto rose 0.75 per cent. Nifty Bank ended 0.5 per cent higher at 21,754 levels.

Shares of Bayer CropScience hit an all-time high of Rs 6,449 apiece on the BSE during the day after the company reported encouraging numbers for the quarter ended June 2020 (Q1FY21). The stock ended at Rs 6,139, up 9 per cent.

Shares of Lupin ended over 6 per cent lower at Rs 879.40 on the BSE after the pharmaceutical company’s net profit for April-June quarter declined 60 per cent on a yearly basis to Rs 106.9 crore. Lupin had posted a profit of Rs 264.7 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Shares of Torrent Power rallied 9 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 357.50 on the BSE during the day after the company posted a 35.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 372.66 crore against Rs 275.27 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The stock ended at Rs 337, up nearly 3 per cent.

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Sensex ends 986 points higher on Friday; financials rally post RBI measures


The domestic stock market witnessed a sharp rally on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a slew of measures to support the economy in the wake of Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The central bank slashed reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent. It also announced special refinance facility of Rs 15,000 crore to SIDBI; Rs 25,000 crore to NABARD, and Rs 10,000 cr to HFCs to support liquidity.

Reacting to it, financials stocks made solid gains, thus aiding the benchmark indices to settle over 3 per cent higher. The S&P BSE Sensex surged 986 points or 3.22 per cent to end at 31,588.72, with Axis Bank (up nearly 13.5 per cent) being the top gainer. ICICI Bank (up 10 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 9 per cent), and Maruti (up 7 per cent) were next on the list.

On the NSE, the Nifty gained 274 points or 3.05 per cent to end at 9,266.75. Volatility index, India VIX, continued to cool-off. It slipped 7.71 per cent to 42.54 levels.

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Indices snap 3-day losing streak, Sensex up 411 points; PSBs gain


Snapping three-day losing streak, buying sentiment was back at D-Street with benchmark indices edging a per cent higher on Friday lifted by gains in financial counters.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 411.38 points, or 1 per cent, to close at 41,575.14 level, with Axis Bank (up 3 per cent), Power Grid (2.2 per cent), SBI (2 per cent), and Bharti Airtel (1.89 per cent) settling as the top gainers on the index. On the flipside, UltraTech Cement (0.22 per cent), and Titan (0.17 per cent) were the top drags.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 ended 124.15 points, or 1.02 per cent highet at 12,250.70-mark.

The Sensex and Nifty50 hit an intra-day high/low of 41,611.27/41,264.92 and 12,258.45/12,157.90, respectively.

On the sectoral front, all the key indices on the NSE settled the day in the positive territory. Nifty PSU Bank index was the best performing index, up 3 per cent, at close, followed by gains in Nifty Realty index (1.6 per cent), and Nifty Bank index (1.3 per cent).

The broader markets, too, followed headlines indices with the S&P BSE mid and small-cap indices gaining 0.86 per cent each.

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Sensex pares some gains, ends 269 points up, Nifty above 11,400


After surging 500 points in the intra-day trade, the S&P BSE Sensex witnessed a sharp fall at the fag-end of the session, mainly due to profit-booking to end at 38,024, up 269 points or 0.71 per cent. Financial stocks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank contributed the most to the index’s gains while Reliance Industries (RIL), ITC and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) emerged as the biggest drags.

The NSE’s benchmark index Nifty50 closed above 11,400 level at 11,427, up 84 points or 0.74 per cent. The index hit a high of 11,487 levels during the day.

Both Sensex and Nifty reclaimed their crucial levels of 38,000 and 11,400 levels, respectively in the intra-day trade after a gap of six months.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 3.68 per cent and Nifty added 3.54 per cent.

Market breadth remained in favour of declines as out 2,860 companies traded on BSE, 1,476 declined and 1,209 advanced while 175 remained unchanged. A total of 59 securities hit their 52-week highs while 111 scrips hit their one-year lows.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 83 points, or 0.55 per cent higher at 15,172, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 14,837, up 51 points or 0.34 per cent.

Banking barometer Nifty Bank, too hit a fresh record high of 29,520.70 during the day. It ended at 29,381.45, up over 1.50 per cent with 10 out of 12 constituents ending in the green.

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Indices decline for 4th session on Friday, Sensex down 301 points


Benchmark indices declined for a fourth straight session on Friday, amid caution over uncertainty over the formation of government in Karnataka, developments in US-China trade negotiations and firm crude prices.

In a major political development, the Supreme Court held a hearing in the Karnataka government formation matter, directing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and the state’s new chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa, must conduct the floor test on Saturday at 4 pm.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,848, down 301 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,605, down 78 points

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank index fell as much as 0.6%, extending its drop into a third session. ICICI Bank declined 2.9%, while HDFC Bank slipped 0.8%.

The Nifty PSU Bank Index also shed 1.6%, in what could be its fourth consecutive session of fall, on continued concerns about disappointing quarterly results due to a jump in bad-loan provisions.
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Markets rebound to end marginally higher on Friday, the eve of GST


Benchmark indices rebounded to ended marginally higher after a day of subdued trading as caution ahead of the launch of a goods and services tax (GST) kept investors on edge. The indices ended the month of June in negative, first monthly loss this year, even after they rose a bit in the late afternoon deals.

The revised tax structure will kick in from midnight, marking India’s biggest tax reform since independence, unifying its $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a common market.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 30,921, up 64 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,521, up 17 points.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap bucked the trend to gain 0.6% each.

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