NSE Nifty was up by 0.56 per cent or 127.60 points to 23,086.85, while the BSE Sensex was at 75,911 up by 0.66 per cent or 500 points.
Also read:Markets at a new peak, but only one in 10 stocks near life-time highA total of 4,020 stocks were actively traded, 1,739 advanced, while 2,117 declined and 164 stocks remained unchanged where 221 stocks hit a 52 week high and 40 stocks hit a 52 week low at 1.30 pm on the BSE.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “As we move into the last week of trade before election results, the market is near record highs. Sharp short covering in index futures and huge delivery based buying in frontline stocks like HDFC Bank have contributed to the strength of the market. Even though Nifty is near record highs, Bank Nifty is 2 away from its peak.
This indicates the potential of frontline banking stocks to move up further. Another positive for the market, is that the FII selling which weighed on the markets this month, has declined sharply and FIIs even turned big buyers on Thursday.
The pharma sector has consistently turned out good results in Q4. This is one of the preferred sectors of institutions and HNIs now. The election related uncertainty, may cause some volatility but is unlikely to cause any major jitters this week. The market is likely to largely discount the results before declaration on June 4th.
Top gainers on the NSE include, Divi’s Lab (4.05 per cent), IndusInd (1.51 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.44 per cent), Adani Ports (1.42 per cent), TCS (1.24 per cent)
Top losers include, ONGC (-2.12 per cent), Wipro (-2.08 per cent), Eicher Motors (-1.80 per cent), Adani Enterprises (-1.74 per cent), Grasim industries (-1.58 per cent).
BSE Smallcap was up by 0.14 per cent, while, BSE Midcap was up by 0.90 per cent.