Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and M&M have gained around a per cent each on BSE
The benchmark indices are trading sideways, with a positive bias on Thursday afternoon, ahead of the August series derivatives expiry. Gains in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank are being negated by losses in Bharti Airtel and Maruti Suzuki. As of 1:30 pm, the BSE Sensex is trading at 55,970.07, higher by 31 points and the NSE Nifty is at 16,640.15, up five points. In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
In the currency markets, the rupee appreciated 13 paise to 74.11 against the US dollar in early trading on Thursday. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.22 against the dollar, then surged higher to 74.11, up 13 paise over its previous close.
On the stock-specific front, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and M&M have gained around a per cent each on the BSE. Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank are the other significant gainers in the Sensex pack.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Powergrid, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC have lost 1-4 per cent each on the BSE.
Among stocks in the news, Infosys is trading flat at Rs 1,736.55 on the BSE. The IT major has announced plans to open a digital development centre in Canada to nurture and expand capabilities in AI, data science, etc.
Affle India is locked a the upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 4,180.45 after its board approved stock split in the ratio of 1:5.
And Bharti Airtel shares have slipped more than 2 per cent post the announcement that the company’s board will meet on August 29 to consider raising funds through a combination of equity, equity-linked instruments and debt instruments.
The BSE market breadth is in favour of the buyers. Out of 3,244 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,669 advancing stocks as against 1,430 declines.
