Nifty closes above 16,700; UltraTech Cement, Grasim and UPL emerge as top gainers

Among the sectors, financials and auto led the rally while IT, pharma & energy were down today

Market update at 3.30 PM: Nifty soared over the 16,700-mark to close 0.69 per cent higher and Sensex surged 390 points. Meanwhile, Nifty Midcap closed flat while Nifty Smallcap rose 0.37 per cent.   

Among the sectors, financials and auto led the rally while IT, pharma & energy were down today.   

UltraTech Cement, Grasim, and UPL emerged as the Top Gainers whereas Tata Consumer Products, Nestle & Infosys were the Top Losers.   

Market update at 2.05 PM: Indices are roaring as the day comes to a near end. Nifty climbed 0.77 per cent while Sensex surged 440 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are also marginally higher.   

Meanwhile, banks have stolen the show. Nifty Bank is up by 1.66 per cent. Nifty Financial Services has risen 1.63 per cent while Nifty Private Bank inched higher by 1.50 per cent.  

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank are also trading higher by over 2 per cent each.  

Market update at 11 AM: Indices have felt some selling pressure at higher levels and are off their day’s high. Nifty is currently up by 20 points and hovers slightly above the 16,600 level. Sensex is also marginally higher while Nifty Midcap & Nifty Smallcap indices are trading on a mixed note.   

Financials and auto are holding on to their gains while IT & energy felt the pressure. From Nifty stocks, UPL, Eicher Motors, and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the top gainers while Infosys, Tech Mahindra & HCL Technologies are weak.   

Meanwhile, Eicher Motors, TVS Motor, M&M Financial Services, and Adani Enterprises have hit fresh 52-week highs.   

The advance-decline ratio stands at 993:878, indicating slight positivity.   

Market update at 9.25 AM: Indices have opened positively on the back of good global cues. Nifty is up half a per cent while Sensex has gained over 260 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have also jumped half a per cent.  

All the sectors are trading higher while India VIX is flat.

Pre-market update: The US markets recovered despite opening lower during Thursday's trading session. Nasdaq soared 1.36 per cent, while Dow Jones climbed 162 points. Thus, most of the Asian markets have opened higher, and SGX Nifty indicates a slightly higher opening of about 20 points.
For yet another day, the FIIs have been net buyers, and bought to the tune of Rs 1799 crores, while the DIIs have sold for about Rs 312 crores, respectively.
ECB has increased the rate hike by 50 bps in Thursday's monetary policy meet.
Key companies set to declare results over the weekend are Reliance industries, Jsw steel, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, etc.
Crude oil sees pressure and is below 100-mark amid recession fears.
Nifty is likely to open above 16600 and first hour of price action shall be watched keenly to anticipate the trend in the market.