Market Update: HDFC Standard Life zooms 10%, pharma stocks continue to outperform; Maruti hits record high

The Indian benchmark indices on Tuesday afternoon extended their morning gains and were trading on a positive note with the Nifty up 53.50 points at 10351 while the Sensex gained 216 points at 33574.

CNX Pharma zoomed 2.67 percent and was distinctively the outperforming sector led by Dr Reddy's Labs which zoomed over 6 percent and Sun Pharma jumped over 4 percent while Cipla, Lupin and Aurobindo Pharma were the other top pharma gainers.

On the other hand, the ADAG stocks were in complete control of the bulls as Reliance Communications spiked close to 10 percent while Reliance Capital added 1.05 percent. Reliance Infra was also up over 1.12 percent while Reliance Naval jumped close to 3 percent.

From the Nifty, the stocks that gained the most were Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, UPL, Tech Mahindra and Cipla.

The most active stocks were HDFC Life which zoomed over 10 percent. L&T Finance, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC and Reliance Industries were the other most active stocks.

From the BSE, the stocks that gained the most included RComm, Mcleod Russel, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sadbhav Engineering and Apollo Hospitals.

94 stocks hit new 52-week high on NSE including Maruti Suzuki, Kolte Patil, GATI, HDFC Standard Life, United Spirits, BASF and L&T Infotech.

From the BSE, the stocks that hit fresh 52-week high were Gillette, Cera Sanitaryware, Proctor & Gamble, Pfizer, Whirlpool and Tata Elxsi among others.

The market breadth was in favour of the advances on Tuesday afternoon with 1026 stocks advancing as against 647 declines. On the other hand, 1574 stocks advanced and 999 stocks declined on the BSE.

Global research firm Goldman Sachs has maintained a buy on Reliance Industries and has hiked the price target to Rs 1,205 from Rs 960. It expects operating income to double to USD 14 billion in the financial year ending March 2020.

Technical Analyst Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com is of the view that there is more upside in Tata Global Beverage, but this is not a trading stock. You really want to buy it and hold it for some time, may be a few months, he said.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd