Top gainers and losers on February 23: Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Life shares rise over 2%; check full list

The Indian equity benchmarks closed higher for a second straight session on Monday, February 23. The SENSEX rose as much as 671 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 25,771 led by gains in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries.

The SENSEX ended 480 points higher at 83,295 and NIFTY50 index advanced 142 points to close at 25,713.

NIFTY50 top gainers and losers

Adani Ports was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.81% to close at ₹1,554 after the company, through its subsidiary, inked a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NMDC and Brazil’s Vale S.A. on Iron Ore on Saturday.

In a regulatory filing dated February 21, it stated that its subsidiary, Adani Gangavaram Port Ltd (AGPL), signed a strategic pact with NMDC Ltd, a Government of India enterprise, and Vale S.A. at the India–Brazil Business Forum Summit held in New Delhi.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (2.24%), HDFC Life (1.97%), Dr Reddy's Labs (1.93%) and Ultratech Cement (1.6%) were also among the top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

On the flipside, Hindalco (-2.23%), Wipro (-1.89%), Infosys (-1.86%), Tech Mahindra (-1.35%) and Cipla (-1.05%) were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

NIFTY Midcap 100 top gainers and losers

NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.43% or 258 points to close at 59,256. As many as 54 shares ended higher while 46 closed lower.

IDFC First Bank was top loser in the NIFTY Midcap 100 index, the stock dropped 16% to close at ₹70 after the bank said that it detected fraudulent activities by certain employees at a particular branch in Chandigarh amounting to ₹590 crore.

The bank has suspended four suspected officials, and it will pursue strict disciplinary, civil and criminal action against the employees and other external individuals responsible, in accordance with applicable law, IDFC First Bank said.

UPL dropped 14% to close at ₹645 after the company post market hours on Friday said it will integrate Indian and international crop protection businesses into a single entity as it seeks to create a focused pure-play platform for growth of this business globally while simplifying group structure.

AU Small Finance Bank fell 5% after Haryana government de-empanelled IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank for government business with immediate effect till further orders, according to an official circular.

Godfrey Phillips (-11%) and Dixon Technologies (-4.2%) were also among laggards in the NIFTY Midcap 100 index.

On the contrary, Indian Bank (4.05%), Cummins India (3.09%), Bharat Forge (3.03%), Vishal Mega Mart (2.91%) and RVNL (2.63%) were top gainers in the NIFTY Midcap 100 index.

NIFTY Smallcap 100 top gainers and losers

NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.29% or 50 points to settle at 17,052. As many as 48 shares ended higher while 52 closed lower.

Aegis Vopak Terminals was top gainer in the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index, the stock rose 9.12% to close at ₹230. Neuland Laboratories (6.88%), Kalpataru Projects (4.79%), Trident (3.8%) and BLS International Services (3.58%) were also among the top gainers in the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index.

On the other hand, Swan Corp (-5.98%), Newgen Software Technologies (-4.04%), Inventurus Knowledge Solutions (-3.41%), Sagility (-3.41%) and Ola Electric (-2.41%) were top laggards in the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index.