Sensex gains 304 points, Nifty briefly hits 21,000; Spencers jumps 17%; Praj tanks 10%

Domestic equity markets settled higher on Friday after RBI's in-line monetary policy outcome where Governor Shaktikanta Das raised GDP projection for the year. The optimism over growth pushed the headline indices to new-highs as Nifty50 hit 21,000 mark, while Sensex was about 100 points shy from 70,000-level.

For the day, BSE's Sensex advanced 303.91 points, or 0.44 per cent, to end at 69,825.60. NSE's Nifty50 added 68.25 points, or 0.33 per cent, to end the day at 20,969.40. Broader markets underperformed the headline indices as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled in red. Fear gauge dropped about 2 per cent to 12.47-mark.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty IT and private bank indices gained more than a per cent each. The Nifty Financial Services and realty indices were the other key gainers for the day. On the contrary, the Nifty FMCG and pharma indices shed a per cent each. The Nifty auto and oil & gas indices were other key laggards.

Markets remained in a range for most of the session and ended with marginal gains. Nifty tested a new milestone in the early trade, however, profit taking in heavyweights trimmed the gains in the middle. The buoyancy in the IT majors along with buying in select private banking counters shifted the bias in favor of bulls, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.

"The rotational buying across heavyweights is fueling the up move and we see the same trend continuing. In case of any dip, Nifty is likely to hold the 20,700-20,800 zone while profit-taking may reemerge around the 21,200 level. Among all, traders should stay focused on stock selection and prefer banking and IT for long trades and pick selectively from others," he said.

In the Nifty50 pack, HCL Technologies and LTIMindTree surged about 3 per cent. JSW Steel and Infosys rose 2 per cent each. Infosys, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Wipro and ICICI Bank were the other key gainers for the day. Among the laggards, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and ITC dropped 2 per cent each. Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra and Divis Labs were other laggards.

The RBI took a balanced approach by raising the economic growth forecast and also expressing concern on food inflation, which may have an elevated trajectory in the short-term. A drop in rabi sowing and dipping reservoir levels provides a perception that foodgrain prices can rise. The impact was visible on FMCG stocks, which underperformed today, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

A total of 3,880 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 1,998 settled with cuts. 1,753 stocks ended the session with gains while 129 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 320 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas merely 209 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Praj Industries crashed more than 10 per cent, while Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Shree Renuka Sugar dropped 8 per cent each. TV18 Broadcast, Pricol, New Delhi Television, DB Corp, Adani Energy Solutions and Ugar Sugar shed 6 per cent each.

Among the gainers, Spencers Retail rose 17 per cent for the day, while Purvanakara gained more than 14 per cent. Alok Industries and Zee Media Corporation were up 13 per cent each for the day. GMR Airports Infrastructure advanced 12 per cent, while KIOCL and Infibeam Avenues added 10 per cent each.

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