Benchmark indices extended rally in afternoon trade but Nifty has come off day’s high in the mid-afternoon trades on account of profit booking.

Equity benchmarks were trading at day’s high led by Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC. Today’s gains were led by technology, auto, metals and oil & gas stocks.

At 1:26 PM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 34,376, up 219 points, while the Nifty50 was ruling at 10,572, up 71 points.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices fell 0.14% and 0.50%, respectively.

The Nifty PSU Bank index has once again erased all its early gains due to selling in the realty and media index.

Shree Cement stock gained 3% after it commissioned 3.6 million tonnes per annum cement grinding unit at Shriganganagar in Rajasthan.

On the economy front, India’s wholesale price index in January eased to 2.845 vs 3.58% in
December.

Jet Airways stock fell 6% after its Q3FY18 revenue grew by 10.4% yoy to Rs6,086.2cr from Rs5,511.1cr in Q3FY17. Operational cost increased by 20.7% yoy, which impacted EBITDA. However, other expenses and employee cost have risen at a slower pace of 4% yoy and 5.3% yoy, respectively.

PNB stock slumped for the second straight day after the bank said it detected fraudulent transactions worth ~Rs11,000cr at one of its branches in Mumbai. Stock tanked 7%.

Volatility index India VIX slipped 6.29% at 16.1025.

Hindalco (+3.9%), ICICI Bank (+3.2%), Vedanta (+2.9%), Infratel (+2.2%), Infosys (+2.6%) and BPCL
(+1.8%) were the top gainers on Nifty50.

Indiabulls HF (-2.5%), Zee (-1%), Aurobindo (-1%), Lupin (-0.59%) and IndusInd Bank (-0.56%) were the top losers in today’s trade.

A total of 28 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 15 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

source: indiainfoline.com