Indian benchmark indices extended their winning streak for the third consecutive session on July 3, with Nifty finishing above 24,250 supported by buying in IT, pharma, metal and realty stocks.
After a firm start, the benchmarks extended their gains as the session progressed, with the Nifty 50 climbing to an intraday high of 24,378.15. However, profit booking in the second half of the session trimmed some of the intraday gains, though ending in positive territory.
At close, the Sensex was up 261.79 points or 0.34 percent at 77,763.91, and the Nifty was up 95.15 points or 0.39 percent at 24,270.85.
For the week, the BSE Sensex and Nifty added nearly 1% each.
The broader indices underperformed with Nifty midcap index ended marginally lower while smallcap index finished on flat note.
Biggest Nifty gainers were HCL Technologies, Max Healthcare, Bajaj Finserv, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy's Labs, while losers included Axis Bank, M&M, SBI, L&T, Tech Mahindra.
Sectoral performance remained mixed, with Nifty Realty emerging as the top gainer, rising 2 percent, followed by Nifty IT (1.7 percent), Nifty Pharma (1.7 percent), and Nifty Metal (0.7 percent). On the downside, Nifty PSU Bank was the biggest laggard, declining 1.5 percent, followed by Nifty Energy (-1.30 percent), Nifty Auto (-0.4 percent), Nifty Media (-0.4 percent), Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.3 percent), Nifty Bank (-0.16 percent).
Around 160 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including Manappuram Finance, Aditya Birla Capital, Aurobindo Pharma, Nuvama Wealth Management, CreditAccess Grameen, Oberoi Realty, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, Bosch, Apollo Hospitals, Cement India Projects, Grasim Industries, Aadhar Housing Finance, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, The Phoenix Mills, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Federal Bank, Granules India, and Pidilite Industries, among others. Click to View More
Among individual stocks, HCL Technologies surged nearly 6 percent after the company announced a strategic partnership with a Europe-headquartered Fortune Global 50 firm, PC Jeweller gained 4 percent after reporting a 21 percent year-on-year growth in Q1 revenue, while Indian Hume Pipe advanced nearly 5 percent after securing a Rs 738.61 crore order from the Rajasthan government's Public Health Engineering Department. Max Estates share price gained 1% on strong pre-sales data.
On the downside, PB Fintech declined 5 percent after 1.08 crore shares changed hands in a block deal. Avenue Supermarts slipped 4.6 percent despite reporting a 15.1 percent year-on-year rise in standalone Q1 revenue, while Union Bank of India fell 6 percent despite posting strong Q1 business growth. Hindustan Zinc edged up 1.3 percent after reporting better production for the first quarter.
The Indian rupee snapped its four-session losing streak, settling 17 paise higher at 95.22 against the US dollar on Friday, compared with the previous close of 95.39.