Sensex ends choppy day 205 pts up; Nifty below 19,750; IT index sole gainer

Closing Bell on July 18: Infosys, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, and Adani Enterprises were some of the notable gainers

Stock market highlights: Benchmark indices settled off record highs on Tuesday as profit booking at higher levels capped the market rally. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 66,795 levels, up 205 points or 0.31 per cent, after hitting an all-time high of 67,007 during the day.

The broader Nifty50, on the other hand, settled 38 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at at 19,749 levels, cooling off from record peak of 19,819.

Infosys, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, and Adani Enterprises were some of the notable gainers, rising in the range of 0.3 per cent to 4 per cent.

On the downside, LTIMindtree, Britannia, HDFC Life, SBI, Titan Company, Grasim, and Bajaj Finance fell over 1 per cent each.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended in the negative zone, down up to 0.47 per cent.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT index was the only decent winner with 1 per cent gain. The Nifty Private Bank index, meanwhile, added just 0.05 per cent. All other indices settled in the negative zone.

IPO Update :: Netweb Technologies

The Rs 631-crore initial public offer (IPO) of Netweb Technologies was subscribed 7.9 times till 3:30 PM on the second day of the offer. The subscription was led by employees, with their portion booked 15 times. The retail investors' quota was booked 7.94 times, NII at 14.36 times, and QIB 2.6 times. The offer will close on Wednesday, July 19.

4:06 PM

COMMENT:: IT sector in focus on improvement in the US market outlook

"The bulls continued to lift the market to new heights, but volatility emerged in the second half due to concerns over valuation. Rapid fall in the dollar index and a slide in the US 10-year yield is supporting liquidity in emerging markets. While disappointing economic growth in China and improvement in the US market outlook are drawing attention to the Indian market with the IT sector as the contra bet."

- Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

4:03 PM

Infosys surges nearly 4% on inking a 5-year AI deal with $2 bn target spend

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4:01 PM

Sheela Foam gains 4% on acquiring controlling stake in Kurlon

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3:59 PM

Analysts bullish on HDFC Bank's long-term growth; see up to 28% upside

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3:57 PM

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3:56 PM

Amara Raja Batteries tumbles 6% after almost 18% equity change hands via block deal

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