Equity indices trade higher amid volatility, Reliance up 2.1 pc

Equity benchmark indices ticked up in volatile trading during early hours on Thursday amid mixed global cues.

Equity benchmark indices ticked up in volatile trading during early hours on Thursday amid mixed global cues. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 148 points or 0.29 percent at 51,458 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 46 points or 0.31 percent to 15,153.

Except for Nifty pharma and auto which dipped slightly, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain. The nifty metal was up by 0.8 percent and private bank by 0.5 percent. Among stocks, index heavyweight Reliance Industries moved up by 2.1 percent to Rs 2,016.75 per share, and metal major Hindalco gained by 4 percent to Rs 290.75.

Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv rose by 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. The other major gainers were GAIL, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, and HDFC Life. However, Eicher Motors dropped by 3.9 percent and Hero MotoCorp by 1.2 percent. Titan, Wipro, Infosys, ONGC, and HDFC were in negative territory.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rested at record highs as investors digested recent meaty gains. Adding to the torpor was a lack of liquidity as markets in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were all on holiday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased by 0.1 per cent, having climbed for four sessions straight to be up over 10 per cent so far this year.