Nifty hits record high, metal stocks gain

Equity indices gained over half a per cent during early hours on Friday as industry leaders hoped for another economic stimulus by the government.

Analysts said the overall structure of the market remains positive as investors are upbeat about unlocking of the economy next month which will help revive commercial activities.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 303 points or 0.59 per cent at 51,418 while the Nifty 50 gained by 101 points or 0.66 per cent to 15,439 and scaled fresh lifetime high.

Except for Nifty pharma which dipped by 0.9 per cent and IT by 0.2 per cent, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty metal moving up by 2.27 per cent, financial service and PSU bank moving up by 0.7 per cent each.

Among stocks, Tata Steel gained by 3.3 per cent to Rs 1,133.85 per share while JSW Steel was up by 3 per cent to Rs 702.25 and Hindalco by 2.2 per cent to Rs 394.25.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries advanced by 3 per cent to Rs 2,035.25 per share. Eicher Motors, Tata Motors and Adani Ports traded over 1 per cent each.

However, pharma stocks lost on profit booking with Sun Pharma down by 2.9 per cent and Dr Reddy's by 1.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were up as investors bet the United States will lead the world out of Covid-19 pandemic with focus turning to a multi-trillion dollar spending boost by the Biden administration.

Tokyo led the advance with Nikkei jumping 1.9 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3 per cent to hit its highest level this month.

(ANI)

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