Markets log first gain in 5 days; financial, pharma stocks take charge

Market gauges Sensex and Nifty broke their four-session losing run on Friday as emergence of buying in financial, pharma and IT stocks negated losses in metal counters.

After a range-bound trading through the day, the BSE Sensex ended 166.07 points or 0.32 per cent higher at 52,484.67.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 42.20 points or 0.27 per cent up at 15,722.20.

On the Sensex chart, ICICI Bank was the top gainer, rising over 1.5 per cent, followed by RIL, SBI, Titan, HDFC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and Infosys. On the other hand, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints and Sun Pharma were major laggards.

Of the 30 Sensex constituents, 16 shares ended with gains and 14 suffered losses.

Sectorally, BSE consumer durables, energy, healthcare, telecom, realty, bankex and finance indices rose up to 1.23 per cent. On the other hand, power, metal, utilities and capital goods indices ended in the red.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the benchmark, rising up to 1.01 per cent.

During the week, Sensex declined by 440.37 points or 0.83 per cent, while Nifty fell 138.15 points or 0.87 per cent.