Sensex up 180 pts, Nifty near 19,600; metal and power stocks rally

Domestic equities climbed higher on Friday led by gains in metals and power companies, after risk sentiment improved in global markets. BSE benchmark Sensex 0.2 per cent to 65,644, while broader NSE Nifty50 jumped 0.3 per cent to 19,572.

By 9.45 am, Sensex was trading 183.55 points, or 0.28 per cent higher at 65,691.87, and Nifty 50 was up 62.45 points, or 0.32 per cent to 19,586.

Barring the IT index, all sectors were trading in green, as Nifty Pharma and PSU Bank gained 1.18 per cent each, the healthcare index jumped 1.01 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas jumped 0.84 per cent followed by Nifty Realty at 0.82 per cent, and media index rose 0.66 per cent.

All broader market indices, except India Vix, were trading in positive. India Vix slipped around 6 per cent. Nifty Midcap 50 jumped 1 per cent, followed by Nifty Midcap Select at 0.83 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 at 0.61 per cent, and Nifty Midcap 150 rose 0.57 per cent.

NTPC, Hindalco, UPL, Dr Reddys, Tata Motors, Divis Lab, Cipla, Apollo Hospitals, L&T, ONGC, JSW Steel, SBI, JSW Steel, BPCL, Grasim, and Tata Steel were the top gainers in the morning trade.

On the other hand, Infosys, LTI Mindtree, Wipro, HCLTech, Adani Enterprises, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, PowerGrid, HDFC Life, Britannia and Axis Bank were the top losers.