New Delhi: The key domestic benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday swung between gains and losses throughout the day before ending day’s trade in the positive zone. The gains in the stock markets were extended in to the second day after the Assembly election results, however, the Russia-Ukraine war, commodity prices, and the US inflation data kept the stock markets volatile through the day.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 86 points to 55,550, while the NSE Nifty settled at 16,630, up 35 points. On the Sensex platform, out of 30 equal number of stocks advanced and declined on Friday’s trade.
Sun Pharma, Cipla, BPCL, JSW Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, IOC, Power Grid, Coal India, and ITC were the top gainers, while the losers were Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Britannia, Axis Bank, Hindalco, NTPC, Eicher Motors, and TCS.
In the broader markets, the Midcap index (up 0.45 per cent) and the Smallcap index (up 0.87 per cent) on the BSE outperformed the benchmarks.
Among individual stocks, shares of BSE Ltd hit a record high of Rs 2,868 after they rallied 10 per cent on NSE.
Stocks of paper companies, including JK Paper, Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper, West Coast Paper Mills, Ruchira Papers, and Star Paper Mills rallied up to 14 per cent on Friday.
Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma index was the best performing index, rising 2.5 per cent on the NSE. The Nifty Auto index, on the other hand, slipped 0.4 per cent.
In the previous session on Thursday, Sensex jumped 817 points to 55,464, while the Nifty, moved to 16,595, up 250 points.
In the global market, the pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.5 per cent in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks climbing 2.4 per cent to lead gains.
Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq Composite Futures, on Wall Street, added about 0.2 per cent each.
Asian stocks, however, ended with cuts on Friday amid fears of U-delisting of Chinese shares in the US. Hang Seng fell 1.6 per cent, Nikkei dropped 2 per cent, and Kospi slipped 0.7 per cent.