Sensex Closes at 74,459, Nifty Back Above 23,000 as IT Stocks Rally

The Sensex ended Friday, 30 October, at 74,459.53, up 308.49 points or 0.42 per cent, and the Nifty 50 closed at 23,053.10, up 116.35 points or 0.51 per cent, back above the 23,000 mark. IT and pharma shares did most of the lifting, while midcap and smallcap indices fell, according to closing-bell reports from HDFC Sky and Kotak Neo.

IT and Pharma Carry the Day

Nifty IT rose 2.3 per cent and Nifty Pharma 1.8 per cent. Among Nifty 50 stocks, Trent gained 5.44 per cent to ₹3,017.30, InterGlobe Aviation rose 4.33 per cent to ₹4,877.60, Infosys added 3.36 per cent to ₹1,185 and Apollo Hospitals climbed 3.02 per cent to ₹8,448.

The biggest Nifty losers were Shriram Finance (down 2.13 per cent to ₹823.15), Nestle India (1.82 per cent to ₹1,167), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.72 per cent to ₹2,840.30) and Adani Ports (1.18 per cent to ₹1,850).

Also read Sensex Falls 353 Points to 73,246; Nifty Ends at 22,699

Midcaps and Smallcaps Slide

The gains were narrow. On the NSE, 2,862 stocks declined against 1,311 that advanced. Midcaps lost 0.8 per cent and smallcaps 1.8 per cent. Consumer durables, PSU banks, energy and media indices each fell more than 1 per cent. For a small investor holding mid- and smallcap funds, the headline index gain did not show up in the portfolio today.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of ₹944 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutions bought ₹1,924 crore, per the HDFC Sky report.

Crude Near $116 Keeps Traders Cautious

Brent crude rose about 1 per cent to $116.1 a barrel and US crude to $103.3, the reports said, after fresh Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure. India imports most of its oil, so sustained prices at this level feed into the import bill and the rupee. Thursday’s session was covered in IPB’s previous market close report, when the Sensex jumped 905 points.

Markets reopen on Monday, 2 November.

Source: Based on reporting by HDFC Sky, Kotak Neo and Bombay Samachar. No NSE/BSE closing document was found.

Image: PTI (file photo).