Sensex recovers 600 points from day’s low, ends 223 points up; FMCG, Pharma rally
Supported by buying in FMCG, pharma, and auto counters, the domestic equity market ended in the positive territory on Friday, ahead of the release of GDP data for January-March quarter of 2019-20 (Q4FY20).
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex recovered a good 600 points from day’s low to settle at 32,424.10, up 223.15 points or 0.7 per cent. ONGC (up 5.5 per cent) was the top gainer on the index while IT major Infosys (down 2 per cent) ended as the biggest loser.
NSE’s Nifty settled at 9,580, up 90 points or 1 per cent, with 36 of 50 constituents advancing and 14 declining.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 5.7 per cent and the Nifty added 6 per cent.
The broader market, too, participated in the rally. The Nifty Midcap 100 index gained over 1 per cent to 13,273 and the Nifty SmallCap 100 index rose nearly a per cent to 4,002.80.
Among individual stocks, Vodafone Idea rallied 35 per cent to Rs 7.85 in the intra-day deals on the BSE, after reports said that the global technology giant Google is in talks to buy a 5 per cent stake in the company, owned by Vodafone Plc of the UK and Aditya Birla Group. The stock, however, pared gains and ended around 13 per cent higher at Rs 6.56 after the company clarified on the report, saying there is no proposal as reported by the media that is being considered at the Board.
IT services firm Wipro surged 6.65 per cent to Rs 212.55 after the company named Thierry Delaporte as the new chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of the company, replacing Abidali Neemuchwala. Delaporte was most recently the chief operating officer of French consulting and technology firm Capgemini Group.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies were in focus with Nifty Pharma index gaining over 3 per cent on the expectation of strong demand scenario from both the domestic and export market.