Benchmark indices were trading 1 per cent higher during the afternoon on Friday, the rally led by metals.

Market began the last session of the year on a positive note amid mixed global cues. Indices extended gains in the first half, witnessing across the board buying.

At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 58,364.64, up 570.32 points or 0.99 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 58,377.69 and a low of 57,846.52. The Nifty 50 was trading at 17,386.00, up 182.05 points or 1.06 per cent, near the day’s high of 17,393.65. It recorded an intraday low of 17,238.50.

Hindalco, Titan, Ultratech Cement, Shree Cement ad BPCL were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while NTPC, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Powergrid and Infosys were the top laggards.

However, the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus will continue to remain a concern for investors in the near term, as per analysts.

Hemant Kanawala, Head – Equity, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, said, “India seems to have officially entered the third Covid wave led by fast spreading Omicron variant, which could cause localised disruption across pockets in near term. While Omicron threat and liquidity withdrawal concerns have led to downside pressure on markets in near term, the earnings momentum has been strong and has provided downside protection, thus keeping markets range bound over last few weeks.”

“In near term, we expect these two opposing factors (liquidity withdrawal on the downside and earnings roll-over on the upside) to remain in play, with markets continuing to consolidate for some more time. Earnings performance would be a key trigger watched by market in near term,” Kanawala said.

All in green

On the sectoral front, all indices were trading in the green with metals recording the highest gains. Financials, auto, FMCG, realty and oil & gas also recorded higher gains.

Nifty Metal was up over 2 per cent. Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Consumer Durables were trading nearly 2 per cent higher each. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Realty and Nifty Oil & Gas were each trading over 1 per cent higher.

Mid-caps, small-caps gain

Mid-caps and small-caps also gained with broader indices remaining in green.

The Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.39 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 1.46 per cent. The S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.35 per cent while the S&P BSE Midcap was up 1.17 per cent.

The volatility index was down 0.78 per cent to 16.44.

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