Selling in broader market stocks continued for another day. But analysts believe this may be healthy for the market as it will remove any froth in the system. The volatility indicator also declined.
The 30-share pack Sensex rose 226.47 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 55,555.79. The index traded in a range of about 540 points. Its broader peer NSE Nifty climbed 45.95 points or 0.28 per cent to 16,496.45.
“Despite the narrative on earnings being positive, the broader markets witnessed profit booking today and many HNIs looking for listing gains have been caught on the wrong foot in the recent Primary Market offerings,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities.
Among the bluechip names, HCL Tech was the top gainer, rising 4.26 per cent. TCS, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance were other gainers.
Grasim Industries was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 3.14 per cent. Adani Ports, M&M, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement and Shree Cement were others that ended in the red.
Broader market indices ended down, underperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap fell 1.85 per cent and Nifty Midcap dropped 0.86 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended down 0.10 per cent.
Welspun India, Bajaj Electric, Carborundum Universal, Escorts, Adani Total Gas and Mindtree were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-8 per cent.
Aditya Birla Capital, Laurus Labs, JSW Energy, Caplin Point Laboratories, Hindustan Copper and Westlife Development were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 4-10 per cent.
The sectoral matrix on NSE was mixed. Nifty IT was the top gainer, rising 1.7 per cent. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were other gainers. Nifty Media, down 1.7 per cent was the top loser. Nifty Auto and Nifty Realty were other major losers.
Market breadth was in favour of losers as 777 stocks ended in the green, while 2,470 names settled with cuts. As many as 172 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 68 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 245 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 645 lower circuit limits.
European markets were trading higher. London-based FTSE was up 0.43 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt advanced 0.88 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively. In Asia, barring Singapore, all markets closed with gains.
