Sensex, Nifty end flat after listless trade; auto stocks rally, banks fall

Domestic benchmark indices remained listless on Friday as record high levels in indices triggered minor profit booking. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit a new lifetime high of 62,448 earlier today, ended at 62,294, up 21 points or 0.03 per cent. The NSE Nifty50, meanwhile, ended at 18,513, up 29 points or 0.15 per cent. The index claimed new 52-week high of 18,535.

Reliance Industries, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tech M, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, and M&M were the top Sensex gainers, rising between 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent. HDFC Life, Tata Motors, Divis Labs, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Eocher Motors, and BPCL were the additional gainers on the Nifty50 index.

On the downside, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, HUL, and Bajaj Finance were the top laggards, down up to 1.4 per cent. Sectorally, the Nifty Realty index added 1.2 per cent, while the Nifty FMCG index fell 0.3 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rallied 0.77 per cent, and 0.67 per cent, respectively.

Shares of Nureca hit a 20-month low of Rs 562.50,down 3%, trading close to its record low of Rs 559.25 touched on March 19, 2021.

Shares of Hariom Pipe Industries (HPIL) rallied 12 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 313 amid heavy volumes after the company completed the set up of 15 ton electric melting furnace.

PNB surged 8% to hit a 21-month high on govt’s nod to divest stake in UTI AMC. PNB received the government’s approval to divest its entire stake in UTI Asset Management Company (AMC) as part of its non-core asset sale plan and shore up its capital base.

Tube Investments was up 3% as the company bought 50% stake in X2Fuels and Energy, an early-stage start-up incubated at the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) at IIT Madras.

Bikaji Foods m-cap crossed Rs 10,000 crore as the stock soared 36% above issue price. At 10:33 am; the stock traded 6.8 per cent higher at Rs 405.35, with a market capitalisation of Rs 10,114 crore, the BSE data showed.

Here are some picks from the week gone by.