ITC boost helps Nifty close in the green

The benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex ended the day with gains of 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, with the Bank Nifty gaining 0.73 percent.

The Nifty managed to close above the 8,550 mark, ending the day at 8,564.40.

The market, which was consolidating during afternoon trade, started to gain soon after the European markets opened. Financial and FMCG stocks lead the gains in both Nifty and Sensex.

During the fag-end of the trade, shipping stocks rose after the government asked the Reserve Bank of India to ease rules for the shipping industry. Bharati Shipyard ended the day with 11.5 percent gains, followed by Shreyas Shipping (+5 percent), ABG Shipyard (+3.3 percent), SCI (+3.3 percent) and Varun Shipping (+3.5 percent).

ITC closed 5 percent higher and was the top gainer on the Nifty followed by Sesa Sterlite (+2.8 percent), BPCL (+2.4 percent), IndusInd Bank (+1.8 percent) and Cipla (+1.4 percent).

Bharti Airtel (-2.2 percent), Hindalco (-2 percent), HCL Tech (-2 percent), M&M (-1.8 percent) and Tata Power (-1.8 percent) were the top losers on the Nifty.

The broader markets under-performed the benchmark indices with the S&P BSE Mid-cap gaining 0.25 percent and S&P BSE Small-cap rising 0.30 percent.

HMT, BF Utilities, KPIT, NBCC were the top gainers on the mid-cap index rising 9 to 5.5 percent while Sulabh Engineers, Pine Animation and Rasoya Proteins were the top losers.

Boosted by ITC, BSE FMCG (+3 percent) was the top sectoral gainer followed by Bank Nifty, BSE Capital Goods, BSE Metal and BSE Auto.

On the flip side, BSE Teck (-0.7 percent) was the top sectoral loser followed by BSE consumer durables and BSE Oil & Gas.

At 4:25 pm the Rupee was trading flat at 61.90 to the US Dollar.