Nifty50 inches higher as market exits holiday-truncated trading week

Domestic equity benchmarks ended a volatile session on a mildly positive note on Thursday, as the market concluded a holiday-truncated trading week owing to Independence Day the next day. Investors continued to assess corporate results from India Inc for domestic cues, with the earnings season approaching its last leg. Globally, caution persisted across major markets with investors weighing the potential impact of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies on growth.  

Both headline indices inch up 0.1 per cent. The Sensex gained 57.8 points to close at 80,597.7 while the Nifty50 added 12 points to settle at 24,631.3.

Wipro, Eternal, Infosys, HDFC Life and Asian Paints — closing between 1.2 per cent and 2.0 per cent higher — rose the most among the 21 gainers in the Nifty50 basket. 

Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consumer Products — finishing between 1.0 per cent and 2.8 per cent lower — were among the top losers in the 50-blue-chip pack. 

Among index heavyweights, HDFC Bank, Infosys and Eternal supported the gains in both main gauges, whereas weakness in RIL and Tata Steel limited the upside.

The Nifty Bank — whose 12 constituents include stocks of SBI and HDFC Bank — gained 160.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to settle at 55,341.9. Financial stocks enjoy the maximum weightage of almost 38 per cent in the Nifty50. 

Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.