Nifty settles at 8,950 on January series expiry day; capital goods, FMCG lead

MUMBAI: The Nifty bounced back in the last hour of trade and closed near the 8,950 level on the back of short coverings on the last day of January series.

The government’s decision not to appeal against Vodafone in tax case, stake sale in Coal India and lower crude oil prices acted as triggers for the market in today’s session.

The 50-share index closed at 8,950.80, up 36.50 points or 0.41 per cent. It touched a high of 8,966.65 and a low of 8,861.25 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 29,686.48, up 127.30 points or 0.43 per cent. It touched a high of 29,740.63 and an intraday low of 29,378.30 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 0.42 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index edged up 0.03 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Capital goods Index gained 0.90 per cent, the S&P BSE FMCG Index was 1.17 per cent higher and the S&P BSE Oil & gas Index advanced 1.47 per cent.

The S&P BSE Metal Index was down 0.07 per cent.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (up 3.94 per cent), BPCL (up 3.87 per cent), BHEL (up 3.40 per cent), HDFC Bank (up 3.26 per cent) and Ambuja Cement (up 2.69 per cent) were among the Nifty gainers.

Punjab National Bank (3.51 per cent), Asian Paints (3.17 per cent), Bank of Baroda (2.93 per cent), HDFC (2.63 per cent) and SBI (2.36 per cent) were among the index losers.

The market breadth was flat on the NSE with 733 gainers against 783 losers.

(All figures are provisional)