Markets continue to march ahead; midcaps outshine

Progress of monsoon rains, sustained FII buying, strong global cues help

Markets continue to remain firm in the noon trades on sustained FII buying amid strength in global equities. Progress of monsoon rains and easing of fears over Brexit further boosted sentiments.

At 1:20 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 163 points at 26,163 and the Nifty50 was up 51 points at 8,337. In the broader market, BSE Midacp index is outperforming the peer and is up 1.4% while BSE Smallcap index has gained 0.9%.

10 Nifty 50 stocks have touched their respective 52-week highs in intra-day trade after the benchmark index gained more than 3% in the past five trading sessions.

ITC, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), UltraTech Cement, ACC, Hindalco Industries, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) from the Nifty 50 index hit 52-week highs on Friday.

ITC extended gains and is up over 3% on renewed buying interest after the stock was quoted ex-bonus (1:2) from today.

Auto major Maruti Suzuki has slipped 0.5% after the passenger car major reported weak June sales numbers. Passenger car sales in June 2016 were lower by 16% at 72,551 units compared with 86630 units in June 2015.

Mahanagar Gas (MGL) has listed at Rs 540, a 28% premium against issue price of Rs 421 per share, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock hit high of Rs 549 and a low of Rs 532 in intra-day trade so far.

Equitas Holdings is up 3.6% after Reserve Bank issued Small Finance Bank License to Equitas Small Finance Bank on June 30.

Shares of Strides Shasun have soared 4.5% after the pharma company announced successful completion of US FDA inspection at its oral dosage facility in Bangalore.

Oil marketing companies are trading higher after Petrol and Diesel prices were cut by 89 paise and 49 paise a litre respectively. IOC, BPCL, HPCL gained between 2%-5%.

Adani Transmission rose 2.5% after the company said it is in pact with GMR Energy to buy 74% stake in Maru Transmission Services Co and 46% stake in Aravali Transmission Services with an option to acquire 100% stake in a manner consistent with Transmission Service Agreement and applicable consents. The Value for 100% stake of both the projects is at Rs.100 crore.