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Benchmark indices were trading over half a per cent higher during the afternoon on Thursday, led by a sharp recovery in IT and metals.
Market which opened on a positive note amid firm global cues, remained volatile in the first half ahead of the monthly F&O expiry. Index heavyweight Reliance is down ahead of its AGM today at 2 pm. PSU stocks too remained under pressure.
A declining trend in Covid-19 cases and vaccination ramp up have boosted investor sentiment.
At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was at 52,615.22, up 309.14 points or 0.59 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 52,676.83 and a low of 52,385.05. The Nifty 50 was ruling near the day’s high of 15,784.30 at 15,767.05, up 80.10 points or 0.51 per cent. It hit an intra-day low of 15,702.70.
Infosys, TCS, JSW Steel, HCL Tech and L&T were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Reliance, Indian Oil Corporation, NTPC, Cipla and Powergrid were the top laggards.
RIL was trading 1.47 per cent lower ahead of its AGM.
Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd, said, “In April 2021, the country attracted $6.24 billion in total FDI inflow, comprising stock, re-invested earnings, and capital, a 38 per cent increase over April 2020's inflow of $4.53 billion.”
According to Garg, gains remained limited as S&P Global Ratings lowered India's growth prediction for the current fiscal year to 9.5 per cent from 11 per cent previously, citing the risk of more Covid pandemic waves.
IT, metals rebound
On the sectoral front, IT and Metals rebounded sharply from the previous session’s losses. Financials also gained. Meanwhile, PSU Bank, Realty and Pharma were under pressure.
Nifty IT was up 2.45 per cent while Nifty Metal was up 0.74 per cent.
Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were up 0.47 per cent and 0.33 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Nifty PSU Bank was down 0.77 per cent. Nifty Realty and Nifty Pharma were down 0.65 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively.
Broader indices
Broader indices underperformed on the market as compared to the benchmarks.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.17 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was trading flat, up 0.07 per cent.
The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.31 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.08 per cent
The volatility index softened 1.51 per cent to 15.13.
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