Market breadth was positive as positive as 1,653 shares ended higher while 1,345 closed lower on the BSE.The Indian equity benchmarks second straight session on Thursday paced by gains in metal, auto, information technology and oil - gas shares.
The Sensex rose as much as 334 points to hit an intraday high of 49,011.31 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 14,743.90.
For most part of the benchmarks traded in a narrow band and ended near to their day's highest levels as wekly index futures and option contracts expired.The Sensex ended 272 points higher at 48,950 and Nifty 50 index advanced 107 points to close at 14,725."Market is likely to gain momentum as long as Nifty sustains above 14,500 wherein it can go up to 14,900-15,000 levels.
The momentum indicators like relative strength index (RSI) and MACD are likely to recover after staying neutral to bearish in the recent time," Ashis Biswas, head of technical research at CapitalVia Global Research told TheIndianSubcontinent.Buying was broad-based in Thursday's session as nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index's 2.75 per cent gain.
Auto, information technology, media, financial services and realty indices also rose between 0.7-1.8 per cent.On the other hand, pharma and PSU bank indices ended lower.Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed 0.65 per cent.Tata Steel was among the top Nifty gainers, the stock rose over 3 per cent to close at Rs 1,103 after it reported net profit of Rs 6,593.5 crore for the quarter ended 31 March, 2021.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 436.8 crore in the year-ago period.Hero MotoCorp advanced nearly 5 per cent to close at Rs 2,918 ahead of March quarter earnings.Hindalco, Wipro, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Bharat Petroleum, HDFC, Grasim Industries and JSW Steel also rose 2-3 per cent.On the flipside, UPL, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, ONGC, NTPC, SBI Life, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC Life and Cipla were among the losers.The overall market breadth was positive as positive as 1,653 shares ended higher while 1,345 closed lower on the BSE.