Sensex, Nifty post mild gains; J Kumar Infra rises 20%, Divis Labs rises 5%

Domestic equity market kicked-off the truncated last week of the year on a mixed note and ended the range-bound session on Tuesday with modest gains. The optimism in the global markets kept the sentiments positive as markets embraced for the new year amid thin trading volumes in the year end.

For the day, BSE's Sensex jumped 229.84 points, or 0.32 per cent, to settle at 71,336.80. NSE's Nifty50 rose 91.95 points, or 0.43 per cent, to end the day at 21,441.35. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as the BSE midcap index rose about three-fourth a per cent, while the BSE smallcap index added about half-a-per cent. Fear gauge rose 7 per cent to 14.68-mark.

Markets extended rebound and gained nearly half a percent amid mixed cues.  After the initial up move, Nifty hovered in a narrow range and finally settled at 21,441.35 level. Meanwhile, a mixed trend on the sectoral front kept the traders busy. The broader indices also traded mixed, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.

"We have reached closer to the hurdle of 21,500 in Nifty and need support from the banking index to make a serious attempt for trend resumption else profit taking would resume. Traders should avoid aggressive trades in the index and stay focused on identifying opportunities on the stock-specific front. We reiterate our preference for defensives- pharma and FMCG for long trades," he said.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty oil & gas index gained more than 1.5 per cent, while the Nifty metal, pharma and healthcare indices gained more than a per cent each. The Nifty auto and FCMG indices gained about a per cent each. On the contrary, only Nifty IT, media and PSU bank indices disappointed.

In the Nifty50 pack, Divis Labs gained about 5 per cent, while Hero Motocorp gained about 3 per cent. Adani Enterprises, NTPC and ONGC gained more than 2 per cent each for the day. Among the laggards, Bajaj Finance dropped about 2 per cent, while Bajaj Finserv and Infosys ended a per cent down each.

Optimism in world equity markets drove key local indices higher on the back of buying in oil & gas, power and metal stocks, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities. "With the year end round the corner investor participation is likely to remain thin, which could see the markets turn range-bound with a mixed bias over the next few days," he added.

A total of 4,030 shares were traded on BSE on Tuesday, of which 2,330 settled with gains. 1,556 stocks ended the session with cuts while 144 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 471 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas merely 204 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Gallantt Ispat, Themis Medicare, Syncom Formulations and J Kumar Infraprojects hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent each. Bharat Bijee and Solara Active Pharma Sciences surged 14 per cent each. MSTC rose more than 13 per cent, while Hi-Tech Pipes, Kalyan Steels, Heritage Foods and Castrol India rose more than 12 per cent each.

Among the laggards, PC Jewellers hit a lower circuit of 10 per cent, while Electronics Mart India tanked more than 5 per cent for the day. RBL Bank, Satin Creditcare Network, Kaynes Technologies India and Veranda Learning Solutions dropped more than 4 per cent each.

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