Sensex rallies 443 pts; Nifty holds 15,550; Maruti rises 7%, Hero Moto 6%

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Equities turned extremely volatile on the day of the weekly F&O expiry with the Nifty50 gyrating between 15,368 and 15,628. It, eventually, closed at 15,557, up 143 points or 0.93 per cent.

On the BSE, the 30-pack Sensex index hit a high of 52,517 and a low of 51,633 during the day. The index closed 443 points, or 0.86 per cent, higher at 52,266.

Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, M&M, and Tata Motors were the top Nifty gainers, advancing between 3.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent. On the downside, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Power Grid, Grasim, and NTPC fell over 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outrun the frontline indices, rising up to 1.4 per cent. Individual gainers included Biocon, Ashok Leyland, ABB, Mindtree, Spandana Sphoorty Financial, Responsive Industries, and Khaitan Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Sectorally, the Nifty Auto index was the only notable gainer, closing nearly 4 per cent higher. Other indices added up to 2 per cent, except the Nifty PSB index which closed 0.25 per cent down.