Though off the day’s high, benchmark indices were trading in the green on Friday afternoon, led by auto and metal stocks while banking stocks lagged behind.
Market opened on a positive note owing to positive global cues. The US market ended at a record high overnight as economic data exceeded expectations and prospects of corporate earnings recovery improved, as per analysts. A majority of Asian markets also turned green.
However, investors still remain cautious amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the country despite the positive global cues.
At 1 pm, Sensex was off the day’s high, ruling at 48,966.64, up 162.96 points or 0.33 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 49,068.90 and an intra-day low of 48,694.49.
Nifty 50 was at 14,661.50, up 80.05 or 0.55 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 14,689.85 and an intra-day low of 14,559.00.
Wipro, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, BPCL and Ultratech Cement were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while ICICI Bank, TCS, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever were among the top laggards.
Wipro gains on Q4 results
The shares of IT major Wipro which was the top gainer on the NSE in the first half, hit fresh highs on Friday after the company reported strong results for the March-ended quarter.
It was up over 9 per cent on the NSE. It hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹472.75
The IT services firm reported strong growth in revenues, backed by a healthy order book and better execution, all resulting in robust margins in the March-ended quarter. The company reported a consolidated net profit of ₹2,972 crore for the March 2021 quarter.
Auto, metal shine
A recovery in auto stocks helped the market extend gains in the first half, along with a focus on metal, IT and pharma stocks.
On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank, were in the green.
Nifty Auto was up 2.05 per cent. Nifty Metal was up 2.15 per cent.
Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma were up by 1.34 per cent each.
Nifty Bank was down 0.04 per cent while Nifty Private Bank was down 0.05 per cent.
Mid-cap and small-cap stocks recover
Broader indices were all in the green. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks recovered from the previous session’s losses to outperform broader indices.
Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.42 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 1.32 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 1.51 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.36 per cent.
The volatility index softened 1.71 per cent down to 20.53.