Top gainers and losers on March 21: SBI Life, NTPC Ltd rise over 3%; check full list

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for fifth straight session on Friday, March 21. The 30-share SENSEX rose as much as 694 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,402.70 led by gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance. The SENSEX ended 557 points or 0.73% higher at 76,905.51 and NIFTY50 index advanced 160 points or 0.69% to close at 23,350.40. For the week, NIFTY50 index advanced 4.25% and SENSEX ended 4.16% higher, making it the best week for markets so far this year.

The surge in markets came on the back of value buying at lower levels, expectations of two rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve and selling pressure by foreign institutional investors slowing down, analysts said. Meanwhile, rising hopes of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India at its policy meet next month also supported bullish sentiment for equities.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

SBI Life was top NIFTY50 gainer, the stock rose 3.43% to close at ₹1,549.75 after it informed exchanges that it has acquired 65,90,000 equity shares of the Bima Sugam India Federation. The company's board had approved picking 10% stake in the company in December last year.

NTPC (3.29%), ONGC (2.72%), Bajaj Finance (2.67%) and Bharat Petroleum (2.56%) were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Trent was top NIFTY50 loser, the stock declined 1.60% to settle at ₹5,138. Mahindra & Mahindra (-1.45%), Wipro (-1.38%), Hindalco (-1.27%) and Infosys (-1.25%) were also among the notable losers.

NIFTY Midcap 100 gainers and losers

NIFTY Midcap 100 index closed in the positive territory; the index rose 1.38% to close at 51,850.75. The index gained for fifth straight session, and it has advanced 7.74% for the week. As many as 85 shares in the index closed higher on Friday while 15 ended lower.

MRPL was top gainer in the NIFTY Midcap 100 index. The stock rose 14.61% on the back of heavy trading volumes. As many as 16.81 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE as against an average 4.64 lakh shares traded daily in the past two weeks.

IDBI Bank (7.77%), BSE (7.23%), Mankind Pharma (7.07%) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (5.82%) were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Suzlon was top NIFTY Midcap 100 loser, the stock dropped 2.74% to close at ₹56.79. Voltas declined 2.55% on account of profit booking after the sharp up move it witnessed earlier in the week. Hindustan Zinc (-1.99%), Polycab (-1.82%) and CG Power (-1.73%) were also among the losers.

NIFTY Smallcap 100 gainers and losers

NIFTY Smallcap 100 index also gained for fifth session in a row and in the last five trading sessions, the index has surged nearly 9%. In intraday deals, the index ended 2.06% higher at 16,184.95. Ramkrishna Forgings was top gainer in the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index, the stock rose 12.72% to close at ₹840. As per reports the company is planning to double its steel casting capacity.

Tejas Networks (12.46%), Jupiter Wagons (10.78%), BLS International Services (10.51%) and Chennai Petro (9.64%) were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Amber Enterprises (-4.97%), Aadhaar Housing Finance (-4.63%), NALCO (-2.69%), Bata India (-2.18%) and Blue Star (-1.52%) were among the laggards in the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index.