Top headlines - Benchmarks bounce back; Sensex ends 497 pts up, Nifty holds 16,750
- Snapdeal files DRHP to raise Rs 1,250 crore through fresh issue
- C E Info Systems sees bumper debut at 53% premium
- CMS Info Systems IPO off to a slow start on day one
Headline indices bounced back in trade in line with global equity markets, as investors looked for value in beaten-down shares. IT, metals and index heavyweight Reliance Industries led the up-move, while select financials came under selling pressure in the latter half of the trading day.
The BSE Sensex opened with a positive gap of almost 500 points, and marched ahead to hit a high of 56,901, up over 1,000 points from its previous close. The index, however, pared gains towards the end of the day and settled 497 points higher at 56,319.
The NSE Nifty, meanwhile, surged to an intra-day high of 16,936 but eventually closed at 16,771, up 157 points.
IT stocks - HCL Technologies and Wipro - closed 4 per cent and 3.6 per cent higher, respectively. They were the major gainers among the Sensex 30 pack. Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Titan, and RIL rallied between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent.
Among major losers, PowerGrid Corporation closed 1.5 per cent lower. Further, investors also booked profits in banking stocks like Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI.
The BSE Midcap and the Smallcap indices finished with gains of 1.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. The overall breadth was also fairly positive, with more than two advancing shares for every declining stock on the BSE.
Individually, MapmyIndia parent C E Info Systems had a bumper listing today. The stock listed 53.6 per cent higher than its issue price of Rs 1,033 per share on the BSE. The stock, however, pared some of its gains and eventually ended 33 per cent higher at Rs 1,376.
The shares of Adani Enterprises also rose nearly 2 per cent on the BSE after the company announced that it had received a Letter of Award from the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Authority to implement three major stretches of the greenfield Ganga Expressway.
That apart, state-run telecom company MNTL hit an over four-year high of Rs 29.90 after it rallied as much as 17 per cent on the back of heavy volumes on the BSE. The stock of the telco hit its highest level since January 2018.
On the downside, the shares of Unitech ended 5 per cent lower amid reports that the Enforcement Directorate had arrested promoters Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra in a money-laundering case.
Among sectoral indices, the BSE Metals index surged 3 per cent, the Consumer Durables index was up 2.2 per cent, while the IT, Telecom and Realty indices rallied around 1.5 per cent each.
Meanwhile, in the primary market, SoftBank-backed Snapdeal filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus for its initial public offering to raise up to Rs 1,250 crore through a fresh issue. The offer also consists of an offer-for-sale of up to 30.77 million equity shares by existing shareholders.
Besides, the IPO of CMS Info Systems was off to a slow start and was subscribed 40 per cent on day one of bidding. The retail quota was subscribed 79 per cent.