SENSEX ends 505 points higher, NIFTY50 reclaims 24,350 led by FMCG shares

The Indian equity benchmarks closed higher on Friday, April 17, outperforming their Asian peers powered by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IT and Axis Bank.

In the first half of the session, SENSEX and NIFTY50 indices traded in a narrow range but broke out of the range on the upside in afternoon trading. The SENSEX rose as much as 565 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,371.90.

The SENSEX ended 505 points higher at 78,494 and NIFTY50 index advanced 157 points or 0.65% to close at 24,353.

Subdued Asian markets

Asian markets ended lower on account of profit booking ahead of the weekend even as United States President Donald Trump expressed optimism over a deal to secure a permanent ceasefire in Iran.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1.57%, China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9% and South Korea's KOSPI declined 0.55%.

Sectoral picture

All the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the NIFTY FMCG index's 2.65% gain. NIFTY Capital Markets index advanced 2.56% with shares of BSE closing at record high of ₹3,538.10.

NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Metal, PSU Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 0.65% and 1.4%.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed the NIFTY50 index as NIFTY Midcap 100 index climbed 1.27% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index surged 1.5%.

Among the individual shares, Apollo Micro Systems rallied as much as 18.51% after it was granted an arms manufacturing license from the Government of India.

In a regulatory filing today, the private defence player said that it received a license to manufacture, assemble, integrate, and proof-test the following high-value strategic weapon systems and munitions.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Hindustan Unilever was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 4.72% to close at ₹2,240. Nestle India, JSW Steel, Apollo Hospitals, Power Grid, Max Healthcare and Reliance Industries also rose between 1.6% and 2.2%.

On the flip side, Wipro and HDFC Life were top losers in the NIFTY50 index after both the companies reported weak March quarter earnings.

Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Technologies were also among the laggards in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,364 shares ended higher while 894 closed lower on the NSE.