Sensex holds above 40,000 mark, Zee Entertainment closes 18 pc higher

Equity indices were volatile on Friday but traded in a narrow range throughout the trading session as investors kept their bets low.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 36 points higher at 40,165 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 22 points to 11,900. Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green except for Nifty auto and IT. Nifty media jumped by 7.6 per cent while metal was up by 2.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment added a phenomenal gain of 18.46 per cent by a buildup of heavy long positions. It closed the day at Rs 308.70 per share.

Shares of Vodafone Idea closed 10.5 per cent higher after the company denied report of exiting India business.

Metal stocks too showed moderate gains with Tata Steel up by 4.1 per cent, JSW Steel and Vedanta by 3.8 per cent each and Hindalco by 3.1 per cent.

However, Yes Bank dropped by 6.1 per cent ahead of Q2 results despite receiving a binding offer of 1.2 billion dollars from a global investor. The other prominent losers were IndianOil Corporation, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motors.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks traded mixed after fresh concerns over US-China trade prospects and ahead of the US economic data.

Japan's Nikkei slipped by 0.33 per cent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained by 0.72 per cent and South Korea's Kospi moved up by 0.8 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index too was up by 0.99 per cent.

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