Stock markets overcome volatility, close in positive zone

Equity benchmark indices erased volatility of the morning session and gained in the last trading hours on Thursday.

The S & P BSE Sensex opened at 37,179, jumped to a high of 37,519 and finally settled at 37,393. The Nifty 50 too witnessed a volatile session but closed 100 points up at 11,257.

Except for pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green. Investors attributed the swings to wait-and-watch sentiment in the market and mixed quarterly corporate results ahead of the exit polls.

Zee Entertainment was a prominent gainer which closed over 9 per cent up at Rs 351.70.

Tata Chemicals gained more than 8 per cent after Tata Group on Wednesday transferred all its branded food businesses to Tata Global Beverages, which will be renamed as Tata Consumer Products.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation gained 4.8 per cent, Bajaj Finance 4 per cent, Indian Oil Corporation and Ultra Cement 3.8 per cent each.

But InterGlobe Aviation was down 8.8 per cent down after reports of differences between founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal over strategies and ambitions for low-cost airline IndiGo.

Among other losers were Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Cipla and Coal India.

Meanwhile, Asian equities swung between gains and losses as US-China tensions continued to flare.

Stocks fell in Tokyo and Seoul after US President Donald Trump moved to curb Huawei Technologies' access to the US market and American suppliers.

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