Sensex, Nifty settle higher amid volatility; IT, pharma stocks jump
The Nifty 50 index settled 0.41 per cent higher at 19,597.30, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.35 per cent to 65,953.48.
In Short
- Nifty Pharma jumps to record high, Nifty IT gains
- Aurobindo Pharma rises, Britannia drops on earnings miss
- Paytm surges on CEO's plan to buy back stake
By Koustav Das: Benchmark stock market indices ended Monday’s trading session on a positive trend, with pharma and IT stocks leading the way.
The Nifty 50 index settled 0.41 per cent higher at 19,597.30, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.35 per cent to 65,953.48. Broader indexes also saw gains, with midcaps and smallcaps adding 0.51 per cent and 0.22 per cent, respectively.
Riches Vanara, Technical and Derivatives Analyst, StoxBox, said, “Today, the Indian market was steady and in green amidst mixed global cues. Due to key economic events such as US and China’s Inflation data which is scheduled for tomorrow and RBI’s MPC decision on August 10, we expect the markets to be volatile, especially banking and metal stocks.”
It may be noted that most of the major sectoral indices ended in positive territory, with the Nifty Pharma index jumping to a record high of 1.56 per cent. Nifty IT also gained over 1 per cent, followed by decent gains in auto stocks.
The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were Divi’s Laboratories, M&M, SBI Life, Sun Pharma and LTIM. On the other hand, the top losers were Britannia, Bajaj Auto, SBI, Tata Motors and Axis Bank.
Among individual stocks, Aurobindo Pharma rose to a near two-year high after a successful pre-approval inspection by the US health regulator at its manufacturing facility.
Mahindra & Mahindra also performed well, with its quarterly profit nearly doubling.
However, Britannia Industries faced a setback, dropping 2.68 per cent – the most on the Nifty 50 – after reporting quarterly earnings below market estimates.
Paytm, however, surged as much as 6.79 per cent following the announcement of its founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma's plan to buy back a 10.3 per cent stake from a unit of China's Ant Financial.
“For investors, the market is 'buys on dips' with a strict stop loss of 19300 which is also a strong base for the NIFTY, and if the Nifty closes below the indicated level, we can expect more profit booking,” said Deven Mehata, research analyst, Choice Broking.
