Sensex Ends Higher, Pharma Stocks Top Laggards

Benchmark indices ended the day higher, led by strong gains in banking stocks. Global cues too supported with most markets across the globe surging and Dow Futures pointing to higher openings for the US markets.

Nifty closed the day higher by 110 points at 11,873 points.

Shares in Maharashtra Bank gained ground after the bank's net profit was up 14% to Rs 130 crore. Nifty PSU bank was the top performer, while Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto and Nifty media were the top laggards in trade.

HDFC Bank saw its shares gain ground after the company reported a good performance for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2020. Shares in Coal India and NMDC too rallied after reports that some PSU companies may resort to a buyback of shares.

Banking stocks saw good buying interest after results from HDFC Bank were good. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank saw big gains.

Nifty stocks that lost ground in trade were Divis Labs, Eicher Motors, HeroMoto Corp, Cipla and Bajaj Auto.

Among the PSU banks, Bank of Baroda had a fantastic day with the stock surging as much as 7 per cent in trade.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended little changed in today's session after trading in a very narrow range through the session.