Sensex snaps 4-day losing run, gains 160 pts; PSU bank index leaps 4%

CLOSING BELL: Individually, Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB), Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and UCO Bank gained between 6 per cent and 15 per cent

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: It was a volatile for the markets on Thursday as tepid global cues, coupled with weekly F&O expiry back home, kept investors on their toes.

Besides, a close fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC; Congress) in Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, and the former party's decisive win in Gujarat kept political fervour upbeat in the market.

The S&P BSE Sensex oscillated in a range of 313 points as it hit a high of 62,633 and a low of 62,320 during the day. It, eventually, closed at 62,571, up 160 points or 0.26 per cent, led by Axis Bank (up 3 per cent), IndusInd Bank, L&T, SBI, ICICI Bank, M&M, HDFC Bnak, and Infosys. 

Sun Pharma, Power Grid, TCS, Nestle India, Bajaj Finance, Dr Reddy's Labs, Asian Paints, Wipro, and NTPC, on the flipside, put pressure on the index. 

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the NSE Nifty topped the 18,600-mark intra-day. It shut shop 149 points, or 0.26 per cent, higher at 18,609. In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap 100 and SmallCap 100 outran the benchmarks as they gained 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank index's surge remained unabated as it advanced nearly 4 per cent today. Individually, Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB), Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and UCO Bank gained between 6 per cent and 15 per cent. 

The Nifty Bank index, which settled 1.2 per cent higher, hit a record high of 43,634 in the intra-day trade today. On the downside, the Nifty Pharma index slipped over 1 per cent, while the Nifty Realty dipped 0.7 per cent. 

New listing

Dharmaj Crop Guard shares made a healthy debut on the bourses today as they delivered a 12 per cent listing gain on the NSE and BSE. The shares got loisted at Rs 266 apiece as against their issue price of Rs 237. During the day, they rallied up to Rs 279, but closed at Rs 267, up 12.6 per cent against issue price.

4:12 PM

COMMENT:: Markets await Fed policy decision, inflation numbers next week

"After touching a record high, the domestic market experienced significant volatility as global markets tumbled due to fear of an economic slowdown and worries over a Fed rate hike. Recession fears weighed on IT and pharma stocks while banks, especially PSBs, continued to support the bourses. This volatility is expected to sustain in the global market as we await the Fed policy decision and US inflation numbers due next week."

 

- Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

 

4:10 PM

Dharmaj Crop rallies 12% on debut

The issue of Dharmaj Crop Guard was subscribed 35 times on the back of strong response from all categories of investors. The high networth individual category of the IPO were subscribed 52 times, while that of institutional investor portion was subscribed 48 times. The retail portion saw 21.5 times subscription, stock exchange data showed. READ MORE

4:08 PM

Axis Bank hits fresh life-time high, gains 3%

Focus on risk adjusted business growth and improving margin trajectory is seen aiding return ratios with sustainability of performance to drive valuation ahead for Axis Bank, analysts. READ MORE

4:05 PM

Sun Pharma sheds 3.5% as USFDA issues import alert on Halol facility

For the year ended March 31, 2022, supplies to the US market from the Halol facility accounted for approximately 3 per cent of the company's consolidated revenues. READ MORE

4:03 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index soars 3.8%; these three constituents have zoomed over 50% in 1-mth

Shares of public sector banks (PSU) continued their northward journey with the Nifty PSU Bank index surging 3.8 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on expectations of strong earnings in coming quarters. READ MORE

3:59 PM

LTIMindtree slips nearly 3%; extends losing streak to four days

Shares of LTIMindtree, the merged entity of Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LTI) and Mindtree, were down 2.7 per cent down on Thursday. The stock of the Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Group quoted lower for the fourth straight after listing of its additional shares under its new name from December 5. READ MORE

3:56 PM

Triveni Engineering dips 4% after nearly 9% equity change hands on BSE

At 09:15 am; around 20.73 million equity shares representing 8.58 per cent total equity of Triveni Engineering changed hands on the BSE, the exchange data shows. READ MORE

3:53 PM

Market Breadth marginally positive; 136 stocks hit new 52-week high on BSE

3:51 PM

BSE Smallcap Heatmap:: Digi Space, Skipper, Venky's soar up to 18%

3:49 PM

BSE Midcap Heatmap:: Bank of India, IOB, Bharat Forge rally up to 8%

3:46 PM

Rupee edges higher to 82.43 versus $

3:44 PM

Broader market also gains around 0.5%; India VIX declines 5%

3:42 PM

Nifty 50:: Top Losers on Thursday - Sun Pharma, Divis Labs

3:40 PM

Nifty 50:: Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank gain over 2%

3:39 PM

Sensex 30 Heatmap:: 13 Gainers v/s 17 Losers