Sensex rises over 350 points; Nifty tops 19,500; JBM Auto up 13%; Senco Gold lists at 36% premium

Indian equity benchmarks rose sharply in Friday's trade, led by gains in technology, metals, banks, financials and consumer stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack surged more than 350 points to trade above 65,900, while the broader NSE Nifty moved nearly 100 points higher to cross 19,500 level. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 moved 0.61 per cent higher and small-cap climbed 0.86 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets advanced today, tracking an overnight rise in Wall Street. US equities closed higher amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve could pause rate hikes this month.

Back home, 14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Metal, Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.07 per cent, 0.70 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.44 per cent, 0.42 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively. Only Nifty Healthcare Index was last seen trading lower, shedding 0.22 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 2,238 crore worth of Indian equities on a net basis in the previous session, while domestic investors sold Rs 1,197 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

On the stock-specific front, LTIMindtree was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock gained 2.11 per cent to trade at Rs 4,996.35. HCL Tech, Hindalco, Infosys and Tech Mahindra rose up to 2.07 per cent.

In contrast, PowerGrid, HDFC Life, Apollo Hospitals, NTPC and Dr Reddy's were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,012 shares were advancing while 829 were declining on BSE.

On BSE, index heavyweights such as Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were among the major contributors to the rise.

Also, Senco Gold made a strong market debut today as the stock got listed at Rs 431, a premium of 36 per cent over its issue price of Rs 317. The stock was last seen trading at Rs 430.

JBM Auto, Subex, Tejas Networks, Sun Pharma Advanced, HEG, Patanjali Foods, Indo Count and Lloyds Steels Industries surged up to 13.11 per cent. In contrast, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, TGV Sraac and Olectra Greentech slipped up to 3.62 per cent.

Nifty outlook

"While the push past 19,500 failed to attract upside momentum, the slippages held above 19,380, restraining the downside momentum as well. And, despite all this volatility, the close back above 19,420, identified yesterday as the key pivot, tilts the bias in favour of upsides. Look to play upsides with trades above 19,460, but expect liquidation pressure to remerge on approach to 19,550. We would also be prepared to play the 19,230-19,125-19,085 moves, should there be difficulty to float above 19,460, but would seek confirmation from a break below 19,360, given VIX's slippage past 11," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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