Nifty, Sensex Off Day's High As HUL Weighs: Midday Market Update

Benchmark equity indices came off their day's highs through the midday on Thursday as shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. weighed on them. Intraday, both the Nifty and Sensex rose over 1%. At 11:43 a.m., the Nifty was at 22,795.20, up by 174.85 points or 0.77%, while the Sensex rose to 74,953.58, up 571.34 points or 0.77%.

Rahul Ghose, chief executive officer of Hedged.in, said the 23,000-mark is an important level for Nifty and a true move on the upside will only be deciphered when it crosses this level. "Until then we are in the woods," he said.

Shares of State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and NTPC Ltd. contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty.

Those of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Hero MotoCorp and Hindalco Industries Ltd weighed on the Nifty.

Defensive sectors like FMCG and Pharma fell on the NSE, with the Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank being the top gainers.

Broader markets outperformed. The S&P BSE Midcap was 2.31% higher and the S&P BSE Smallcap rose 2.96%. Three out of 20 sectoral indices on the BSE declined and 17 rose. BSE Realty was the top gainer.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers as 2,968 stocks rose, 705 fell, and 136 remained unchanged on the BSE.