A general restraint prevailed in the
stock market today with all eyes on GDP data for the June
quarter as the Sensex and the Nifty both closed positive for
the second day, aided by supporting overseas trend.
The indices were on their toes ahead of release of the
growth numbers slated for post-market hours on Thursday.
Since it was the last day for August derivatives
contracts, speculators went about covering their short bets in
the last lap, which kept the positivity going.
"Market was range bound while short covering emerged
towards the close on account of expiry which took the indices
to positive. Investors are a little cautious ahead of Q1 GDP
data later today. On the other hand, ease in geopolitical
tensions will give some relief to the market," said Vinod
Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
In spite of a lower opening, the 30-share benchmark
settled higher by 84.03 points, that is 0.27 per cent, at
31,730.49. The gauge had rallied 258 points in the previous
trading session.
The 50-share NSE Nifty ended at 9,917.90, up 33.50
points -- 0.34 per cent -- after shuttling between 9,925.10
and 9,856.95.
Realty, power, oil and gas stocks took the front row. The
BSE realty index advanced the most by 1.11 cent, followed by
power, consumer durables and oil and gas.
Healthcare, banking and metal came as speed bumps, ending
in the negative.
Wipro got top billing surging 2.54 per cent followed by
Bajaj Auto that rose 2.24 per cent. Reliance Industries,
Maruti Suzuki, Cipla and Asian Paints registered gains of up
to 1.88 per cent.
Defence stocks had a field day after the defence
ministry, in a major move, has decided to carry out a series
of reform initiatives in the Indian Army. IT rubbed off on
defence stocks, including Reliance Defence and Engineering (up
6.86 per cent). Astra Microwave Products, Punj Lloyd, BEML and
Taneja Aerospace and Aviation went up.
Participants rolled over their futures and options
contracts from August series to September, causing deep swings
in the market.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained
steadfast in their backing by lapping up shares worth Rs
15,695.51 crore while foreign portfolio investors sold shares
of Rs 16,073.21 crore as on August 30.
DIIs bought shares worth Rs 290.78 crore while FPIs
liquidated shares worth Rs 12.46 crore yesterday, as per
provisional data.
Broader markets kept getting higher, with BSE small and
mid-cap indices turning green.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
05:19 PM IST