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Benchmark indices were trading in the green on Friday, led by metal stocks.
Market opened on a positive note amid bullish global cues and managed to retain the gains in the first half. The US stocks overnight closed strongly higher, while most Asian markets were also in the green.
While US President Joe Biden’s decision to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines is a major positive, concerns related to the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 and lockdowns in key States still remain.
At 1 pm, Sensex was at 49,136.68, up 186.92 or 0.38 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 49,417.64 and a low of 49,072.01. The Nifty 50 was at 14,796.90, up 72.10 or 0.49 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 14,863.05 and an intra-day low of 14,771.45.
Metallic push for the markets
Indices were largely dragged by IT, auto and PSU Bank stocks while metal stocks helped them remain in green.
Tata Steel, Adani Ports, SBI Life, Hindalco and JSW Steel were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50; while Tata Consumer, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and BPCL were among the top laggards.
Tata Steel, JSW Steel at record high
Tata Steel continued to gain momentum and hit fresh 52-week high on the back of its strong Q4 results. It hit a 52-week high of ₹1,184.95 on the NSE.
The company has reported a consolidated net profit of ₹7,162 crore for the quarter ended March against net loss of ₹1,615 crore logged in the same period last year. The company has announced dividend of ₹25 a share. A dividend of ₹6.25 will be paid on partly paid-up shares.
JSW Steel also hit fresh highs on Friday. It recorded a new 52-week high of ₹754.40 on the NSE. The company has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a Feasibility Study with JFE Steel Corporation, a Strategic Alliance Partner, to establish a Grain Oriented Electrical Steel Sheet Manufacturing and Sales Joint-Venture Company in India. The plan is to complete the study within the currentfiscal year and take appropriate steps to set up this JV company subject to requisite approvals, it said in a regulatory filing.
Sectoral and broader indices
On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty Auto, Nifty IT Nifty PSU Bank were in the green. Nifty PSU Bank recorded the highest losses and was down 0.57 per cent. Nifty IT and Nifty Auto were down 0.13 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Nifty Metal recorded the highest gains and was up 3.81 per cent.
As for broader indices, midcap stocks underperformed while smallcap stocks managed to retain gains.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.39 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.32. The S&P BSE Midcap index was trading flat while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.30 per cent.
The volatility index softened 4.02 per cent to 21.15.
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