Domestic indices opened on a higher note on Friday amid positive global market sentiments. The BSE Sensex surged 202.46 pts or 0.34% to 59,808.26 and NSE Nifty 50 advanced 57.25 pts or 0.33% to 17,568.50. The top gainers on Nifty 50 were Divis Lab (up 2.15%), Adani Ports (up 1.55%), Bajaj Finserv (up 1.08%), UPL (up 1.05%) and State Bank of India (up 1.01%) while Hindalco (down 1.68%), Eicher Motors (down 1.60%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.26%), JSW Steel (down 0.97%) and Tata Steel (down 0.85%).
Axis Bank shares rose 0.22% to Rs 847.05 after the lender announced plans to purchase Citibank’s India Consumer Business from Citibank N.A. and the NBFC Consumer Business from Citicorp Finance (India) last year. It revealed to the exchanges that they have made progress, obtaining all the approvals necessary. The bank estimated that the completion of the acquisition could be finalized by 1 March.
Sectoral Indices
The sectoral indices were trading mostly in green. Bank Nifty rose 0.49%, Nifty IT was up 0.66%, Nifty PSU Bank climbed 0.69%, Nifty Pharma was up 0.71% while Nifty Metal was up 1.09%.
Asian and US stock markets
Asian markets were trading mixed with China’s Shanghai Composite index falling 0.15%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.73% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.15% and South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.19%.
The US markets ended the overnight session broadly higher with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 108.82 pts or 0.33% to 33,153.91, S&P 500 climbing 21.27 pts or 0.53% to 4,012.32 and tech-heavy Nasdaq surging 83.33 pts or 0.72%.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold net shares worth Rs 1417.24 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) acquired equities worth Rs 1586.06 crore on 23 February, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
NSE F&O Ban
The National Stock Exchange has put no stock/security in its F&O ban list for Friday, 24 February. According to the NSE, stocks are prohibited in the F&O sector once they have exceeded 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). During the F&O ban period, no new positions are permitted for F&O contracts in that stock.