ADVERTISEMENT

Sensex Extends Gains, ACC Soars 8% On Earnings

Sensex Extends Gains, ACC Soars 8% On Earnings

Indian shares extended gains in the afternoon trade with Sensex rising over 250 points and the Nifty regaining the 9,200 mark led by advances in banking, auto and infrastructure stocks within which, cement shares outperformed.

Among Nifty stocks, ACC was the top gainer, up nearly 8 per cent following better-than-expected quarterly results of the company, which came post market hours on Friday. ACC's earnings also boosted sentiment for other cement stocks. Grasim Industries, Ultratech Cements, Ambuja Cements also rose between 3-4.5 per cent.

Among sectors, banking was the top gainer up 1.28 per cent led by HDFC Bank, which rose as much as 2.8 per cent to a record high after the country's second-biggest lender by assets on Friday reported higher-than-expected profit for the March quarter. Axis Bank, Yes Bank and SBI also rose between 1-2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries, which will report its fourth quarter earnings later in the day, was up over 1 per cent supporting gains in the benchmark indices. According to analysts polled by NDTV Profit, Reliance Industries is likely to report a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,046 crore for the March quarter.

As of 1.18 pm, Nifty was up 0.93 per cent or 85 points at 9,204.45 and the Sensex traded 0.84 per cent or 249 points higher at 29,614.

Meanwhile, pharma stocks witnessed selling today. Nifty Pharma sub-index fell 0.48 per cent. Lupin was the top loser in Nifty down 2.83 per cent followed by Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma, which were down 1.4 and 0.62 per cent respectively.