Mumbai: Nifty settled with modest gains, up 8 points at 8,934.55 in a volatile and range-bound session ahead of the assembly election results of five states scheduled tomorrow.
Investors had reacted positively in the morning session to the exit polls last evening showing BJP as the single largest party in UP and Goa, but trimmed their gains through the day. Overseas, European and most Asian stocks gained ahead of the closely-watched US non-farm payrolls report due later in the day. Meanwhile, a late rebound in energy shares helped US stocks end a choppy session a tad higher yesterday, ahead of the US monthly jobs report due today.
The NSE 50-share Nifty index opened higher at 8,953.70 and hovered between 8,975.70 and 8,903.95 before closing at 8,934.55, a modest rise of 7.55 points, or 0.08 per cent. It saw an intra-day movement of about 71.75 points.
Sector-wise, auto rose (0.26 per cent) infra (0.25 per cent) and IT (0.23 per cent). While, metal fell (0.59 percent), energy (0.41 per cent) PSU bank (0.35 per cent), Pharma (0.29 per cent and FMCG 0.22 per cent.
Major index gainers were Bosch Ltd (3.33 per cent), BhartiAirtel (1.30 per cent), Yes Bank (1.10 per cent), InfraTel (1.08 per cent) and ONGC (1.03 per cent). TechM fell by 2.69 per cent, while other notable lossers were BPCL (1.37 per cent), Grasim (1.04 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.08 per cent) and Powergrid (0.98 per cent). A total of 973 scrips declined, 654 advanced, while 98 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 99.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 17,336.35 crore from Rs 19,550.73 crore yesterday. A total of 8,583.35 lakh shares changed hands in 6,755,773 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 11,532,821.43 crore. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain close on Monday, March 13th for “Holi” holiday.
PTI