Indices end higher on expiry; ITC becomes the top gainer

Market update at 3.30 pm:  Nifty closed above the key level of 17,500 on expiry, up by 0.26 per cent while Sensex gained about 160 points. Meanwhile, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap gained about 0.6 per cent & 1.24 per cent, respectively.  

Banking stocks and realty stocks faced the heat, with HDFC Bank being the top loser for the day. The top gainers’ list included ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, and Reliance. Besides, India VIX crashed over 4 per cent.  

Market update at 1.15 pm: The Indian benchmark index i.e. Nifty has recovered from the initial selling pressure and is currently, trading above 17,500. Meanwhile, Sensex has gained over 200 points.

India VIX has crashed another 3 per cent and is below 17. Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro, and Reliance are the top contributors to Nifty rally while the banking stocks are experiencing selling pressure.  The mid-cap and small-cap indices are up by 0.6 per cent & 1.38 per cent, respectively. 

Market update at 10.15 am:  Nifty opened higher by 70 points i.e. above the key level of 17,500. However, it couldn’t sustain the gap and fell about 100 points in the first hour of the trading session. Currently, Nifty and Sensex are trading marginally lower, but Bank Nifty is feeling the pressure as it slipped about 0.75 per cent. 

Apart from Nifty Pharma and Nifty Media, all other sectoral indices are facing the heat. India VIX is down by a per cent. The advancing stocks are 1,074 while declining stocks are currently at 673. We can expect Nifty to make some volatile moves due to the weekly expiry. 

Pre-market update: Wednesday had been a magnificent day for Nifty as it gained about 294 points or 1.71 per cent. After a disastrous start of the week, this V-shape recovery is a much more relief for the bulls. Nifty tested 17,500 levels on Wednesday but could not manage to close above it.  

All the sectoral indices continued the momentum of Tuesday to end in green. It was a broad-based rally as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gained about 1.6 per cent & 1.4 per cent, respectively. Besides, India VIX fell about 6.45 per cent. 

On Wednesday, NASDAQ gained another 100 points and currently, the US, as well as the European Futures, are trading positively thereby, indicating positive global sentiment.  

As the global sentiments look good, most of the Asian markets are trading higher with SGX Nifty indicating about 100 points gap-up.   

Nifty is likely to open in a similar fashion and today, being the expiry day, we must expect intraday volatility.