Markets End The Day Marginally Higher, ITC Surges 7%

Benchmark indices ended the day higher for the third straight day in a row, thanks to a solid surge of 7 per cent in ITC and decent gains in IT stocks.

Two wheeler shares also saw a surge with Bajaj Auto and Hero Motor Corp among the gainers. The Sensex ended the day higher by 1104points, while the Nifty gained 39 points in trade.

Shares in Colgate Palmolive ended the day with losses of near 1.3 per cent lower, even as net profit at the company was up 1 percent to Rs 204.1 crores.

Bajaj Finserv saw its shares dropping more than 3 per cent, after net profit at the company fell sharply to Rs 194 crore from Rs 839 crore. S Sreenivasan, CFO of Bajaj Finserv said, "The situation is still evolving and it is difficult to hazard a guess on how this pandemic will evolve. The company and its subsidiaries will be focusing on profitability over growth, seeking to conserve cash, borrowing long-term, strengthening collections, reducing overheads and preserving capital adequacy."

Among the Nifty stocks that saw sharp gains apart from ITC were Hindalco, HeroMoto Corp and Asian Paints. Among the top losers from the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance.

The Bank Nifty, which during the course of the day had rallied, lost ground and ended the day near 1 per cent lower.