Markets End On a High

The Sensex and Nifty added major gains in the morning trade and corrected a bit in the afternoon trade to later close on a high on Wednesday, March 10. The sentiment is good for the traders as the overall markets globally look positive on vaccination boost and additional U.S stimulus package said a senior analyst. In number terms, the BSE Sensex ended higher by 254 points or 0.50 per cent at 51,279.51, while Nifty-50 ended at 15,174.80, up 76 points or 0.51 per cent.

At closing, around 1200 shares had advanced while 500 shared saw a decline in their respective stock price movement. HDFC and Infosys were major contributors to the BSE Sensex as they gained a per cent each in the intraday session and weighed the index positively. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 157 and 198 points respectively led by strong buying in shares of IDBI Bank, Godrej Industries and MTNL.

JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Bajaj finance, and Tata Steel were the top index gainers at market closing. The shares of Eicher Motors and JSW Steel gained over three per cent each, while Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel gained over two per cent in the intraday session. The Auto stocks witnessed buying after the FADA’s (Federation of Automobile Dealers Association) retail sales report highlighted a 10.59 per cent growth in PV (Passenger Vehicle) registrations for the month of February. 

Among the banks, Axis Bank gained, and IndusInd Bank gained over two and one per cent respectively. The IT sector outperformed in the entire session as shares of Mindtree, Infosys and L&T InfoTech added major gains. Mindtree surged over five per cent and marked a record high of Rs 1,902. The Nifty IT index gained 428 points or 1.67 per cent at 26,010.10.

The IT stocks were backed by the momentum in technology stocks in U.S markets, say experts. “With Technology stocks doing well on NASDAQ the day clearly belonged to Midcap IT as the street demonstrated increased appetite today for Technology”, said S Ranganathan of LKP Securities. 

Sectorally, PSU Bank and Energy sector underperformed on profit booking, rest all other sectors ended in green. Pharma, Metal and IT sector gained over a per cent each. Shares of Sun Pharma surged over two per cent after the company acquired stake in WRS Bioproducts.

NOTE: The exchanges will be shut on Thursday, March 11 on account of Mahashivratri. 

Ruchit Purohit

BW Reporters The author is a Trainee Journalist at BW Businessworld based in Mumbai. He tracks the Markets and related news.