Market wrap: NIFTY50 and SENSEX end in green; HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank top index movers

Indian equity benchmarks ended in positive territory on Friday, supported by strong buying in banking and financial stocks. Markets made a positive start and traded in positive territory throughout sessions, amid optimism over possible diplomatic progress in the Middle East. However, indices trimmed some gains in the final hour of trade but managed to close higher.

Traders took support with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that investment commitments from American companies in the last six months are estimated to exceed $60 billion, including major data centre investments by firms such as Amazon and Google.

Some support also came as US Ambassador Sergio Gor stated that the US is looking forward to sealing the proposed bilateral trade agreement with India that will facilitate expanding market access, reduce barriers, and create greater certainty for businesses.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, while Asian markets closed in green, following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders watched the ongoing diplomatic process to end U.S.-Iran hostilities in the Middle East with positivity.

The SENSEX ended at 75415.35, up by 231.99 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 75230.75 and 75810.97. 17 stocks were advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.18%, Telecom up by 0.93%, Metal up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.63% and Basic Materials up by 0.37%, while Healthcare down by 1.23%, TECK down by 0.39%, IT down by 0.32%, Utilities down by 0.31% and PSU down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The NIFTY50 ended at 23719.30, up by 64.60 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 23671.00 and 23835.65. 27 stocks were advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Trent up by 3.02%, Shriram Finance up by 2.87%, Axis Bank up by 2.56%, ICICI Bank up by 1.73% and Wipro up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Max Healthcare Inst down by 6.22%, Sun Pharma down by 2.47%, ITC down by 2.06%, ONGC down by 1.98%, and Power Grid Corp down by 1.75% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 35.58 points or 0.44% to 8,153.00, Germany’s DAX gained 69.76 points or 0.28% to 24,807.00, and the UK’s FTSE 100 increased 5.98 points or 0.06% to 10,438.32.