Nifty and Sensex close marginally higher; IT and media stocks rally, Metals take a hit

Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life Insurance Company and Hindalco Industries emerged as the top gainers form the Nifty 50 stocks

Market update at 3.30 PM: The Benchmark indices ended the day on a higher note, led by good buying in IT and media stocks. NSE Nifty 50 index rose marginally higher by 0.12 per cent to close near 17,900 level while S&P BSE Sensex gained about 150 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap ended the day on a flat note.  

IT and media stocks are the top performers amongst the sectors while metals remained weak today.   

Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life Insurance Company and Hindalco Industries emerged as the top gainers form the Nifty 50 stocks while Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Hero MotoCorp were the top losers.   

Nifty formed a hammer candle and showed strong buying interest placed at lower levels. Meanwhile, global cues shall continue to be in focus.   

Market update at 11 AM: Adani group stocks have witnessed severe selling pressure after MSCI announced that any changes in free float status of Adani stocks will be implemented and announced as part of its February index review, which is set to be released on Thursday. Adani Enterprises (-10 per cent), Adani Ports (-4.25 per cent), Adani Power (-5 per cent) have all witnessed strong selling pressure.  

NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex trade flat amid strong volatility. Nifty Midcap is trading slight positive while Nifty Smallcap is marginally down by 0.20 per cent.  

Media and pharma stocks have remained resilient in this volatile environment, while metal and auto stocks have experienced strong weakness.  

About 1033 stocks are advancing as against 922 stocks that are declining, thus indicating positive sentiment in the broader market.  

Market update at 9.30 AM: Indices have experienced weakness following a sell off in metals, PSU Banks and auto stocks. NSE Nifty 50 index has slipped 0.40 per cent to trade at 17,800 level while S&P BSE Sensex has lost 125 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are trading on a flat note.  

Except for Pharma, all other sectors are trading in red. Adani stocks have hit a lower circuit amid poor sentiment in the market.  

Pre-market update: The Wall Street indices shrank during Wednesday's session, primarily led by tech stocks with Google slipping nearly 7 per cent. Nasdaq dipped 1.68 per cent while Dow Jones lost over 200 points. With this, most of the Asian markets have reacted negatively and trends on SGX Nifty indicate a minor loss of 15 points.

Oil rose for the third straight day after US Fed remarked ease in interest rate hike. Brent crude oil settled above USD 85 per barrel.

Adani group: The conglomerate giant has plans to prepay nearly Rs 8000 crore loan to the banks amid ongoing fiasco with Hindenburg.

In the last trading session, the FIIs sold to the tune of Rs 736 crore while the DIIs bought shares worth Rs 941 crore.

Nifty is expected to open around 17,800 level and today being weekly expiry, volatility is expected to persist throughout the day.