Domestic stocks trade on a mildly positive note

The key equity barometers traded with slight gains in early trade. Nifty opened at 23330 and hit a high of 23397 in first half hour of trade. Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index shares advanced, while Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank shares retreated.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, edged higher by 437.48 points or 0.59% to 74,732.44. The Nifty 50 index added 30.40 points or 0.13% to 23,376.80.

The broader market failed to keep pace with frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index inched up 0.11% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index posted modest gains of 0.23%.

The market breadth was healthy. On the BSE, 2354 shares gained and 1699 shares fell. A total of 275 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Realty index added 0.91% to 852. The index has fallen 5.76% in last one month and lost 8.08% over last one year. DLF, inching higher 3.07%, led the gainers followed by Phoenix Mills, adding 2.28% and Lodha Developers, gaining 2.23%, respectively. Out of 10 index constituents, 7 are reporting gains today.

Nifty Pharma index inched up 0.79% to 26922. The index has posted modest gains of 1.32% in last one month and spiked 18.32% over last one year. Wockhardt, up 3.21%, led the gainers followed by Glenmark Pharma., edging up 2.68% and Torrent Pharma., gaining 2.29%, respectively. Out of 20 index constituents, 13 are reporting gains today.

Nifty IT index retreated 1.24%. The index has slipped by 4.50% in last one month and posted steep losses of 21.48% over last one year. Oracle Fin.Serv., easing 2.06%, led the losers followed by Mphasis, down 1.77% and Infosys, edging lower 1.44%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

In NIFTY500, JP Power Ven. is the top gainer today, recording robust gains of 8.40% to Rs 16.64. The counter is lower by 18.37% in last one year. It recorded an average volume quantity of 2926977.60 in last five sessions compared to 3349275.52 over last one month.

Asian markets jumped on Monday. China’s Shanghai composite is ahead by 0.55%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is modestly higher by 0.44%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is sharply higher by 1.38%.