Sensex, Nifty Gain For Second Straight Session; Zomato Surges On Debut

Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note.

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for second straight session on Friday led by gains in ITC, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and HCL Technologies. For most part of the day, the benchmarks traded in a narrow band but buying in banking stocks in late morning deals helped Sensex and Nifty break the rangebound trade. However, weakness in index heavyweight Reliance Industries ahead of June quarter earnings capped the upside for the benchmarks.

The Sensex advanced 139 points to close at 52,975.80 and Nifty 50 index advanced 32 points to settle at 15,856.

Shares of food delivery firm Zomato nearly doubled in value in debut, in the first stock market listing of a startup valued at more than $1 billion. Zomato shares surged over 80 per cent to hit high of Rs 138.90.

Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Realty index’s over 1 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, PSU Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and FMCG shares also witnessed buying interest.

On the other hand, auto and media indices closed lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.2 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.5 per cent.

ICICI Bank and ITC were among the top Nifty gainers ahead of June quarter earnings due tomorrow. Wipro, SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finserv also rose between 1-2.6 per cent.

On the flipside, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, UPL, Indian Oil, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints were among the losers.

About G jimss