Midday report: Sensex gains 49 points, Nifty up 27 points

Indian equity benchmarks
were trading in the green on Thursday with both the Sensex and the Nifty
trading above 56,600 and 16,850 marks, respectively. The appreciating rupee
supported traders’ sentiment as the Bank of England decides to buy long-dated
bonds prompting a retreat in US yields and the dollar. Traders were seen in
buying positions in Metal, Healthcare, and Oil & Gas, while selling was
witnessed in Consumer Durables, Capital Goods, and IT stocks.

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The Sensex was trading at
56,647.37, up by 49.09 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 56604.18 and
57166.14. On the index, 18 stocks were advancing and 12 stocks declining.

The broader indices were
trading in green with the BSE Mid cap index up by 0.14% and the Small cap index
up by 0.67%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by
1.61%, Healthcare up by 1.36%, Oil & Gas up by 1.11%, Energy up by 1.03%
and FMCG was up by 0.91%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.55%, Capital Goods
down by 0.31%, IT down by 0.11%, Bankex down by 0.05% and Auto was down by
0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the
Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.42%, Sun Pharma up by 2.29%, ITC up by
2.25%, Tata Steel up by 1.68%, and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.35%. On the
flip side, Asian Paints shed 3.11%, Titan Company 1.56%, Tech Mahindra 1.33%,
Larsen & Toubro 1.09%, and Kotak Mahindra Bank 1.00%.

The Nifty was trading at
16,886.45, up by 27.85 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 16,872.20
and 17,026.05. On the index, 33 stocks were advancing against 16 stocks
declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged.

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The top gainers on Nifty
were Hindalco up by 3.89%, ONGC up by 2.82%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.62%, Dr.
Reddy’s Lab up by 2.43%, and Sun Pharma up by 2.34%. Asian Paints down by
3.14%, Titan Co down by 1.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.41%, Larsen & Toubro
down by 1.25%, and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading
mixed with the Nikkei 225 surging 248.07 points or 0.95% to 26,422.05, Taiwan
Weighted adding 68.19 points or 0.51% to 13,534.26, KOSPI rising 1.62 points or
0.07% to 2,170.91 and Straits Times up by 31.57 points or 1.01% to 3,147.88.

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On the flip side, Shanghai
Composite declined 14.35 points or 0.47% to 3,030.72, Hang Seng decreased 97.91
points or 0.57% to 17,152.97, and Jakarta Composite was down by 7.16 points or
0.1% to 7,069.87.