Sensex and Nifty End Higher Amid Volatility as RIL, Metals Shine

Sensex and Nifty bounced back in the afternoon trade after opening in the red on Monday, August 16 as buying interest in the Metal and Energy stocks lifted the sentiment. At close, the BSE Sensex was up 145.29 points at 55,582.58, and the Nifty was at 16,563.05, up 33.95 points.

However, the broader markets failed to perform and even experts suggested investors not to take new positions until the overall breadth turns positive. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended lower by 40 and 149 points, respectively.

Commenting on the same, Ashish Biswas, Head - Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research, said, "We advise the traders to refrain from building a new buying position until further improvement is seen in the market breadth."

In the 30-share pack Sensex, 14 scrips ended in the green, while 16 counters declined. Shares of Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance contributed the most of the value in the action today as the stocks advanced one and three per cent, respectively. RIL marked an intraday high of Rs 2,203 amid news of positive development on a deal with Saudi Aramco.

Tata Steel (+3.96 per cent) and M&M(+2.64 per cent) were other top gainers in the index. Whereas, Maruti Suzuki (-2.43 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (-2.03 per cent) were the top losers in the Sensex.

Sector-wise today, except for Metals, Financials, FMCG and Energy, all other sectors witnessed selling pressure throughout the day. The Nifty Metal index clearly led the rally today as it jumped over a per cent led by shares of Hind Copper, Vedanta, Hind Zinc and Tata Steel as they advanced 2-3 per cent each.

Tracking the primary market action, shares of Devyani International saw a 57 per cent listing premium at Rs 141 against its issue price of Rs 90. Krsnaa Diagnostics saw a seven per cent gain as the stock listed at Rs 1,025 against its issue price of Rs 954. Exxaro Tiles opened up five per cent at Rs 126 against its offer price of Rs 120, while Windlas Biotech discounted five per cent at listing.

In the overall market breadth on Monday, 1146 shares advanced, 2068 shares declined, and 136 shares were unchanged.