Nifty settles at 11,589, auto stocks rally

Benchmark Nifty ended higher for the second consecutive session Friday on continued value-buying in auto, metal, energy, media and pharma counters amid a recovery in the rupee.

The index ended above the key 11,550-level at 11,589.10, up 52.20 points.

Overseas, European shares were mixed while most Asian stocks declined amid ongoing concerns about global trade and emerging markets.

The 50-share Nifty settled above the key 11,550-level at 11,589.10, up 52.20 points, or 0.45 per cent. It shuttled between 11,603.00 and 11,484.40 during the session.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 118.60 points.

The broader mid-cap and small-cap indices also outperformed the benchmark with substantial gains.

Meanwhile, PSU bank and financial service counters saw mild selling activity.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto rose by 2.20 per cent, followed by Metal 1.86 per cent, Energy 0.85 per cent, Media 0.74 per cent, Pharma 0.74 per cent, Realty 0.64 per cent, FMCG 0.63 per cent, Infra 0.63 per cent, Private Bank 0.18 per cent, IT 0.14 per cent and Nifty Bank 0.05 per cent.

However, PSU Bank fell by 0.85 per cent.

Major index gainers were Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Lupin and M&M.

Losers included Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, HDFC and Power Grid.

The market breadth, indicating its overall health, remained positive. On the NSE, 1,060 stocks advanced, 743 declined and 114 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 222.

Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 36,966.93 crore from Rs 34,986.45 crore as on Thursday.

A total of 14,044.67 lakh shares changed hands in 1,26,59,002 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,55,11,978 crore.