Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-Day Losing Streak Led By Metal Shares

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day losing streak led by strong buying interest in metal and PSU banking shares. The Sensex rose as much as 333 points to hit an intraday high of 52,777.18 and Nifty 50 index briefly moved above its important psychological level of 15,800. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening and held on to gains as futures and option contracts for the month of July expired.

The Sensex ended 209 points or 0.4 per cent higher to close at 52,653 and Nifty 50 index rose 69 points to close at 15,778.

Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index’s over 5 per cent gain. Metal stocks witnessed buying interest on report that China is considering imposing more export duties.

Nifty PSU Bank, Realty and IT indices also advanced between 1-3 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty FMCG, Pharma, Auto and Private Bank indices ended lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.72 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.9 per cent.

On the IPO front, Tatva Chintan Pharma made a stellar debut on the bourses. The shares of the specialty chemical maker listed at Rs 2,111.80 on the BSE, a premium of 95 per cent compared to the issue price of Rs 1,083.

The IPO of Glenmark Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, was subscribed 27 times thus far, on the last day of the public offer, subscription data available on exchanges showed. And the Rolex Rings IPO has been subscribed 8 times thus far on the second day of bidding.

Hindalco was top Nifty gainer, the stock surged 10 per cent to close at Rs 459. Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Tata Motor, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance and Sun Pharma also rose between 2-7 per cent.

On the flipside, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, ITC, Coal India, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Hindustan Unilever, Divi’s Labs, Cipla and Hero MotoCorp were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 1,936 shares ended higher while 1,256 closed lower on the BSE.