Nifty settles above 12,000 mark, Sun Pharma and IndusInd Bank top gainers

Equity benchmark indices traded in a narrow range on Thursday with the Nifty index closing above 12,000 mark for the first time since June 3.

Equity benchmark indices traded in a narrow range on Thursday with the Nifty index closing above 12,000 mark for the first time since June 3. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 184 points or 0.45 per cent higher at 40,654 while the Nifty 50 moved up by 50 points to 12,016. Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green except for Nifty auto and PSU bank.

Nifty metal was up by 1.09 per cent, pharma by 0.64 per cent and FMCG by 0.54 per cent. Among stocks, Sun Pharma closed 3.4 per cent higher at Rs 229 per share after the company reported Q2 net profit of Rs 1,064 crore on strong fundamentals.

IndusInd Bank also showed a handsome gain of 2.7 per cent while metal majors Hindalco, JSW Steel and Vedanta were up by 2.2 per cent, 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Index heavyweight Reliance was up by 1.8 per cent at Rs 1,461 per share. ITC, Asian Paints and HDFC too were in the green.

However, UPL tumbled by 7.8 per cent after the company said its second-quarter (July to September) consolidated net profit fell sharply by 67 per cent to Rs 89 crore due to one-time exceptional loss. Yes Bank fell by 3.5 per cent after Moody's Investor Service placed its foreign currency issuer rating under review for downgrade. The other prominent losers were GAIL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Cipla.

Meanwhile, Asian shares struggled to cling near multi-month peaks as US-China trade deal left investors frustrated at the lack of concrete progress. Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.11 per cent, South Korean Kospi by 0.01 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 0.57 per cent.

Some reports said a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an interim trade deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)