Nifty ends higher; HDFC, Lupin rally

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Updated: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 15:40 [IST]

Markets ended the day steady after trading in a narrow range for most of the day. The Nifty ended the day higher by 24 points. The Sensex closed marginally below the 20,000 mark at 19,990 points.

Among the top gainers from the Sensex were HDFC, which rallied sharply by 3 per cent, following a good set of results. Other notable gainers from the space were Lupin, which also jumped following a good set of Q4 2013 numbers.

Banking stocks were largely subdued in trade today with notable losers from the space being ICICI Bank, Allahabad Bank, Union Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Realty stocks ended the day mostly flat apart from Indiabulls and DB Realty, which jumped more then 4 per cent.

IT stocks also closed flat with TCS and Infosys moving in a narrow range. Oracle Financial dropped after reports that the parent company announced that it will sell 5.3 per cent stake in BSE-listed Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS) to meet the regulatory requirements in the country.

Stocks that lost ground from the Nifty were Bank of Baroda, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, NMDC, Mahindra and Mahindra and Axis Bank.

Ranbaxy Laboratories lost ground after the company's Q4 2013 results came worse then expected. On the other hand, ITC and Mahindra and Mahindra Financial hit a 52-week high in trade today.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day higher after the US saw strong overnight closings. Markets in Europe were trading higher with the UK's FTSE, the German DAX and the French CAC all in the positive.

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