Sensex rises 200 pts, Nifty near 26k; SMIDs up; metal, realty stocks outperform

Stock markets in India were trading higher on Friday, gaining strength from a global market rally, along with hopes that an India-US trade deal could be finalised soon.

That apart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, with the discussion centred on strengthening economic ties, as officials from both countries work toward concluding talks on a trade agreement.

At 11:00 AM, The BSE Sensex was at 84,993, higher by 174 points or 0.21 per cent, while the Nifty50 was at 25,952, adding 54 points or 0.21 per cent.

L&T, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, BEL, NTPC, Axis Bank, Jio Finance, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, and Reliance Industries were top Nifty gainers today.

On the downside, Wipro, Sun Pharma, HDFC Life, HUL, Eicher Motors, Infosys, and Tech M slipped on profit booking.

In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap index advanced 0.76 per cent, and the Nifty SmallCap index 0.74 per cent.

Among sectors, the Nifty Metal index was the top performing index, rising 1.71 per cent. This was followed by gains in Nifty Realty (1.4 per cent), Nifty Media (0.79 per cent), Nifty Private Bank (0.76 per cent), and Nifty Financial Services (0.50 per cent).

The Nifty FMCG was the only index in the negative zone, trading with a slight shade of red.

IPOs today

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. IPO opened for subscription today. ICICI Prudential AMC has priced its ₹10,600-crore IPO in the range of Rs 2,061–2,165 per share. At the upper end of the band, the country’s largest asset manager will command a valuation of around Rs 1.07 trillion. SHOULD YOU SUBSCRIBE?