Sensex, Nifty Close On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Despite spending much of the day's trading session in the red, the Indian stock market ended on a positive note on Friday with several frontline counters seeing some brisk buying in the final hour.

The mood remained cautious right through the day amid rising concerns about slowing growth and rising interest rates, with several central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England signaling more rate hikes in the coming months.

Worries about a surge in Covid-19 cases and extension of restrictions in China weighed as well on investor sentiment.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 113.95 points or 0.19% at 60,950.36. The index, which dropped to 60,666.01 around mid morning, climbed to a high of 61,004.49.

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty50 ended with a gain of 64.45 points or 0.36% at 18,117.15.

Metal stocks turned in a fine performance. Shares of public sector banks too closed notably higher. A few stocks from the oil sector posted strong gains, while pharmaceuticals shares were weak.

Bajaj Finserv climbed more than 4.5%. UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel both gained about 2.5%.

State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance gained 1.2 to 1.5%.

Adani Enterprises, up 6.56%, was the top gainer in the Nifty index. The stock surged after the company said it posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 461 crore in the second quarter, more than double the earnings it posted in the corresponding quarter last year.

Hindalco surged 4.8%, while JSW Steel, Adani Ports and Tata Motors gained 3.3%, 3%, and 2.1%, respectively.

UPL, Britannia Industries, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finance and ONGC also ended notably higher.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories ended 1.49% down. Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank and NTPC lost 0.7 to 1.1%.

Cipla ended weak despite reporting an 11% year-on-year increase in net profit in the second quarter. BPCL, Divi's Laboratories, HDFC Life and SBI Life also closed weak.

GAIL shares ended 1.82% down after the company reported a 46% drop in second quarter net profit at Rs 1,537 crore.

Hero Motocorp shares ended weak despite the company reporting a modest increase in net profit in the second quarter.

Vodafone Idea and Ajanta Pharma too closed lower on results, while Amara Raja Batteries soared nearly 10% after reporting a 39% jump in consolidated net profit in the second quarter.

The market breadth was quite positive. On BSE, 2,023 stocks closed higher. 1,422 stocks ended weak, while 140 stocks settled flat.