Indian equities

The Sensex and Nifty settled at 59,744 points and 17,812 points, up 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent from their previous close, respectively. On Friday, the Nifty oil and gas index jumped sharply during the session, NSE data showed. On the stocks front, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Hindalco, HDFC Life, and Shree Cement rose the most, rallying 4.6 per cent, 4.2 per cent, 2.9 per cent, 2.3 per cent, and 1.9 per cent, respectively.

The Sensex and Nifty settled at 59,601 points and 17,748 points, respectively, down 1.03 per cent and 0.99 per cent from their previous close, respectively. Barring a few sectoral indices such as consumer durables, PSU bank, media and auto, rest tanked during the session, NSE data showed. On the stocks front, JSW Steel, Ultratech Cement, Shree Cement, Tech Mahindra, and Adani Ports stocks declined the most, falling 3.0 per cent, 2.7 per cent, 2.6 per cent, 2.5 per cent, and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

At 9.30 a.m., Sensex traded at 59,818 points, down 0.1 per cent from its previous close of 59,855 points. It opened at 59,921 points. Similarly, Nifty traded at 17,781 points, down 0.1 per cent from the previous close of 17,805 points. It opened at 17,681 points. Among the stocks, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Avenue Supermarts, Infosys, Interglobe Aviation were some of the top losers during the early trade, exchange data showed.

Accordingly, Sensex and Nifty settled at 60,223 points and 17,925 points, up 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, from their previous close. On Wednesday, banking, financial services, oil and gas, and realty stocks rose the most. Among the stocks, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, JSW Steel, Grasim rallied the most, rising 5.0 per cent, 4.4 per cent, 3.5 per cent, 3.4 per cent, 3.1 per cent, respectively, data showed.

In the past few days, due to increasing caseload several states have brought in some sort of restrictions, curfews, closure of select activities. "Now onwards the rise could be slower in the new year when all players will return to their trading desks, 17,161 points is a support in the near term while 17,405-17,534 band could provide resistance," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

The Sensex and Nifty settled at 57,897 points and 17,233 points, respectively, up 0.83 per cent and 0.86 per cent from their previous close, respectively. Accordingly, all sectoral indices rallied during the day's trade, NSE data showed. Nifty auto and Nifty consumer durables rose the most. Among the stocks, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ultra Cement, and NTPC were some of the top gainers, rising 3.1 per cent, 2.8 per cent.

Lately, risks of another wave of Covid-19 emanating from the Omicron variant also somewhat dented the broader market sentiment among the investors. On October 19, the Sensex had hit the record high of 62,245 points, while on Friday it closed at 57,124 points, almost a decline of 9 per cent. Same is the case for the Nifty. It fell around 8 per cent from 17,155 points to 17,003 points.

However, positive global cues arrested a further fall in the key indices. The Sensex and Nifty settled at 57,124 points and 17,003 points, down 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent from their previous close, respectively. Among the stocks, NTPC, Eicher Motors, ONGC, and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top losers, declining 2.9 per cent, 2.5 per cent, 1.8 per cent, 1.7 per cent, 1.7 per cent, respectively.

The Sensex and Nifty settled at 56,930 points and 16,955 points, respectively, both up 1.1 per cent from their previous close. All sectoral indices rallied during the day's trade, with pharma, auto, metal and PSU banks jumping the most. Among the stocks, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Divi's Labs, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Finance were some of the top gainers, NSE data showed, rising 4.0 per cent, 3.7 per cent

The indices traded lower all through the session on Friday. The Sensex and Nifty settled at 57,011 points and 16,985 points, down 1.54 per cent and 1.53 per cent from their previous close, respectively. Among the stocks, Indusind Bank, Tata Motors, ONGC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hindustan Unilever were some of the top losers, NSE data showed, declining 4.6 per cent, 4.4 per cent, 3.9 per cent, 3.5 per cent, 3.4 per cent, respectively.