Equity indices close over 0.5 pc higher, NTPC and Power Grid top gainers

Equity benchmark indices gained over half per cent on Friday mirroring trends in Asian markets after overnight gains on Wall Street.

Equity benchmark indices gained over half percent on Friday mirroring trends in Asian markets after overnight gains on Wall Street. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 214 points or 0.56 percent higher at 38,435 while the Nifty 50 gained by 59 points or 0.53 percent at 11,372.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty PSU bank ticking up by 1.8 percent, private bank and financial service by 1.2 percent each, and pharma by 0.6 percent. Among stocks, power utility major NTPC jumped by 5 percent to wind up the day at Rs 106.25 per share. Power Grid Corporation too witnessed a spurt of 4.6 percent to Rs 189.60.

HDFC Bank and State Bank of India gained by 2.5 percent and 1.7 percent respectively while auto majors Hero MotoCorp and Eicher Motors were up by 2.4 percent and 1.9 percent. The other prominent gainers included Asian Paints, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, and Grasim.

However, Zee Entertainment, Hindalco, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, and HCL Technologies traded with a negative bias. Meanwhile, Asia's stock markets bounced following Wall Street's lead overnight as another surge in tech stocks took the Nasdaq to a new all-time closing high.

Japan's Nikkei edged up by 0.17 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced by 1.3 percent. South Korea's Kospi too gained by 1.34 percent.