Sensex rises 200 pts, Nifty above 21,300; LIC soars 6%

Equity benchmark indices were above the flatline in a muted start to Friday’s trade ahead of the long Christmas weekend. The BSE Sensex was marginally higher at 70,870 and the NSE Nifty50 rose 24 points to 21,280.

HCLTech, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Tech M led gains on the Sensex, while Adani Ports, LTIM, UPL were the additional Nifty winners.

On the flip side, Infosys, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and M&M were among the frontline drags.

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Nifty Metal and Realty indices held most strength with over 1 per cent gain each. Pharma pocket was up 0.9 per cent. Nifty Bank sat with losses of 0.2 per cent.

Among stocks, LIC rallied 6 per cent after the govt approved a 10 year extension for the company to meet the 25 per cent minimum public shareholding norms.