Markets continue trading higher; Nifty holds above 9,110

The benchmark indices on Thursday continued to trade higher as investors picked beaten down counters, while recovery in Asian markets also contributed to the gains.

At 2:26 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,403, up 67 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,125, up 22 points.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices outperformed to gain 0.6% and 1%, respectively. 

The market breadth depicted strength. There were over two gainers against every loser on BSE. On the BSE, 1,769 shares rose and 859 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Realty index was the leading sectoral gainer, led by gains in Sobha, Phoenix and Oberoi Realty which rose up to 7% on the NSE.

Nifty Media index was up over 1% thanks to gains in Eros Media (up 6%), Sun TV (up 5%) and Inox Leisure (up 3%). 

Nifty PSU Bank index was up 0.7% with Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank rising anywhere between 1-3%. 

Among losers, private sector lender YES Bank lost as much as 5.3% after it reported a 66% surge in provisions for bad loans. ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were down about 2% each.

Meanwhile, the stocks of 16 companies gained up to 4% on Thursday after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced their inclusion in the futures and options (F&O) segment with effect from April 28, 2017. 

Godfrey Phillips India, V-Guard Industries and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) were up 4% each, while Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFC), Balrampur Chini Mills, NBCC (India), Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and Mahanagar Gas were up nearly 3% each on the NSE.

Among Asian markets, China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei settled unchanged after trading higher during the day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 1%.