Bulls take the drivers seat: Nifty closes at 18,500; Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life and Infosys emerge as top gainers

Stocks that have hit fresh 52-week high levels include Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, HAL and PNB. 

Market update at 3.30 PM: Indices witnessed a fantastic rally in the last half hour amid strong buying interest and short covering rally in IT stocks. NSE Nifty 50 index jumped over 100 points during this period and closed at 18,500 level. BSE Sensex soared over 750 points to close above 62,000 level. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap rose 0.44 per cent and 0.51 per cent respectively. 

IT and Financials dominated the market throughout the day. Nifty IT rose nearly 3 per cent amidst such positivity. India VIX plunged 4 per cent as the bulls took the driver’s seat.   

From the Nifty 50 stocks, Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life and Infosys emerged as the top gainers while Cipla, Coal India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers.   

Global markets are also turning positive as European markets are trading higher along with Dow Futures. Meanwhile, Nifty is just about 100 points away from claiming its all-time high levels. 

Market update at 2.15 PM: Indices have extended gains amid strong buying sentiment in financials and good short covering rally in IT stocks. 

NSE Nifty 50 is trading at 18,400 level and has jumped 0.78 per cent while Sensex has surged 500 points. India VIX has plunged nearly 6 per cent amidst such positivity. 

Market update at 10.45 AM: Broader indices have been trading higher as strong buying sentiment is seen across top quality stocks. NSE Nifty 50 index has jumped 0.56 per cent to trade above 18,300 level while BSE Sensex 30 has soared 350 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have climbed 0.20 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively.   

IT stocks have witnessed strong short covering rally, while PSU Banks continue to attract investors. Meanwhile, realty and metals remain weak.   

Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life Insurance and Tata Consumers are the top gainers from the Nifty 50 stocks while Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and Adani Enterprisers are weak today.   

The advance decline ratio stands at 1,330:594, indicating strong positivity in the market.   

Stocks that have hit fresh 52-week high levels include Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, HAL and PNB. 

Market update at 9.30 AM: The broader indices have opened higher amid positive global cues. NSE Nifty 50 index has surged 0.21 per cent to trade at 18,300 while Sensex has surged nearly 150 points. Midcap and Smallcap stocks also witnessed good buying interest.  

PSU Banks are the top performers while metals are weak. India VIX has slipped over 2 per cent.

Pre-market update: The American indices rallied during Wednesday's trading session after US Fed minutes indicated that the pace of interest rate hike might slow down in upcoming months. Dow Jones climbed 95 points while tech-heavy Nasdaq rose nearly 1 per cent. Such positivity is reflected in most of the Asian markets as they open higher on Thursday. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening of about 80 points for Nifty.
Crude oil skidded over 3 per cent amid talks on Russian oil capping and a rise in US crude inventory. Brent crude currently trades near USD 85 per barrel.
In the last trading session, the FIIs have sold to the tune of Rs 789 crore while the DIIs bought shares worth Rs 413 crore.
Nifty is expected to remain volatile given the monthly expiry day. Stock specific action is likely to continue on D-street.