Sensex snaps 3-day losing streak led by FMCG, Metal stocks, Nifty settles above 22,000

Stock market today: The BSE 30-share Sensex managed to snap its three-day losing streak on Friday in a week marred by heightened volatility in the run up to election results. The Sensex rose 260 points to close at 72,664 and Nifty 50 index advanced 98 points to settle at 22,055.20.

For the week, Nifty dropped 1.87 per cent and Sensex tumbled 1.65 per cent posting their worst week in over two months, data from exchanges showed.

India VIX, the gauge of expected volatility in markets, spiked to 1.49 per cent to 18.47 as market participants are factoring in varying results for the ongoing elections, analysts said.

Eleven of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index’s 1.54 per cent gain. Nifty FMCG, Pharma, Auto, Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durable indices also rose 1 per cent each.

On the other hand, banking, IT and real estate shares faced selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares also staged a bounce back as Nifty Midcap 100 index ended 0.9 per cent higher and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.7 per cent.

Bharat Petroleum was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.5 per cent to close at Rs 618.80 a day after the company announced bonus issue in ratio of 1:1.

Power Grid, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp, Eicher Motors, JSW Steel, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, ITC and Bharti Airtel also rose between 1.85-2.45 per cent.

On the flipside, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cipla, LTIMindtree, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra and State Bank of India were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,190 shares ended higher while 1,612 closed lower on the BSE.