Market Wrap, Mar 1: Sensex gains 196 pts, Nifty tops 10,850; YES Bank up 3%

Heavy buying in financials, autos, metals and pharma counters and positive global cues lifted the equity markets on Friday. 

The S&P BSE Sensex added 196 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 36,064, while the NSE's Nifty50 index closed at 10,863.50, up 71 points or 0.66 per cent.

On a weekly basis, the 30-share index Sensex rose 0.53 per cent while Nifty gained 0.66 per cent. 

Shares of YES Bank was up 3 per cent to Rs 238 on the BSE on Friday after the private sector lender said that Ravneet Gill has joined as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) with effect from today, March 1, 2019.

YES Bank was the largest gainer in the benchmark index S&P BSE Sensex, which was up 0.55 per cent at 36,064 at the fag-end of the session.

Among individual stocks, shares of SBI Life Insurance climbed 5.47 per cent to Rs 612.25 on the BSE after CA Emerald Investments ("Emerald") acquired 9 per cent stake in the company through open market on Friday. The stock made a sharp rebound after falling over 12 per cent in the early trade. 

Shares of SML Isuzu were locked in upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 682 on the BSE after the company reported strong 33 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in total sales at 1,282 units in February.

On the contrary, Bharti Airtel ended over 3 per cent lower at Rs 307.75 apiece on BSE after the company said its board of directors approved a fund raising plan of up to Rs 32,000 crore through a mix of rights issue and bond.

Sectrally, all the indices ended in the green, with media stocks advancing the most, followed by PSU banks and metals. The Nifty PSU Bank index ended over 2.50 per cent higher at 2,832 levels with all the 12 constituents ending in the positive territory. 

In the broader market, S&P BSE MidCap index gained 184 points or over 1 per cent to settle at 14,503 while S&P BSE SmallCap surged over 2 per cent to end at 13,982.