SENSEX, NIFTY50 edge higher led by gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Thursday, August 6, ahead of weekly expiry of SENSEX futures and option contracts. The investor sentiment remained positive on easing geopolitical tensions in West Asia after Iran and Oman reached an understanding over a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

The SENSEX rose as much as 201 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,646 led by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Titan, Eternal, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India.

As of 9:24 am, the SENSEX was up 193 points at 78,774 and NIFTY50 index advanced 16 points to 24,640.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower dragged down by selling pressure in AI related shares such as SK Hynix, Samsung, Kioxia and Tokyo Electron.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.4%, South Korea's KOSPI index declined 3.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.77% while China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4%.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower dragged down by selling pressure in AI related shares such as SK Hynix, Samsung, Kioxia and Tokyo Electron.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.4%, South Korea's KOSPI index declined 3.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.77% while China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4%.

Eight of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY Pharma index's 0.5% gain. NIFTY PSU Bank, Healthcare, consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also rose up to 0.5%.

On the other hand, auto, FMCG, IT, metal and realty shares were witnessing selling pressure.

Broader markets were trading on a mixed note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.15% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.41%.

Among the individual shares, Neuland Laboratories surged nearly 10% to hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹21,882 after its net profit in April-June period jumped 975% to ₹147 crore from ₹13.7 crore.

Its total income advanced 116% to ₹650 crore.

Shriram Finance was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2% to ₹1,145. Eternal, Reliance Industries, Titan, Cipla, Bharat Electronics, Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma and State Bank of India also rose between 0.8% and 1.8%.

On the flip side, Power Grid, Trent, Hindalco, NTPC, HDFC Life, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 1,810 shares were advancing while 1,048 were declining on the NSE.