Batbricks7

Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday as other global markets recovered from selling seen a day earlier.

Markets Today: Equity markets closed Thursday’s volatile trade in the positive territory albeit off the day’s high. The BSE Sensex ended 228 points higher at 72,050 and the NSE Nifty gained 71 points to close at 21,911.

M&M gained most among largecaps, ending with a gain of nearly 7 per cent after scaling a new high on firm Q3 results. Its net profit rose 61 per cent YoY to Rs 2,454 crore.

Energy and oil & gas sector largecaps NTPC, Power Grid, BPCL and ONGC were the next top frontline gainers, closing 3-5 per cent up. SBI and HDFC Bank gained over 2 per cent each, aiding the Sensex gains.

ITC, Nestle, HUL and Britannia were the top drags along with Axis Bank, Reliance, Apollo Hospitals and Sun Pharma, ending 0.7-2 per cent lower.

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices, meanwhile, closed with relatively higher gains of nearly 1 per cent each.

Nifty PSU Bank index led sectoral gains, closing 3 per cent higher. Nifty FMCG and Pharma were the notable underperformers.

Among stocks, MRPL was among the top BSE gainers, ending frozen at the 20 per cent upper circuit.

“A significant feature of the market now is the change in leadership. Reliance has emerged as the leader of the rally and is supported by ICICI Bank and SBI. The strength of these fundamentally strong stocks augurs well for the bulls. The valuation gap between large caps and the broader market continues to be an area of concern,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.