Nifty kicks off March series on positive note, ends at 10,492, Sensex up 325 points

The Nifty50 settled the March series on a positive note, settling just a tad below its crucial 10,500, tracking Asian markets after comments from US Federal Reserve official eased worries about faster rate hikes in the United States. A rebound in recently hit sectors such as pharma and banking also contributed to the gains.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 34,145, up 325.82 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 10,492, up 110.15 points. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices outperformed to gain 1.5 per cent each. 

Also read: Nifty to hit 10,000 next month? 12 events, 4 stocks to watch out in March F&O series

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive. On the BSE, 1,905 stocks rallied, 826 stocks fell, while 153 stocks remained unchanged. 

Nifty Metal (up 3.2 per cent) and Nifty Pharma (2.6 per cent) gained the most among NSE indices. Nifty Bank also rebounded, gaining 1.4 per cent. 

Among individual stocks, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were the best performers, and spiked 6 per cent each on the NSE. 

Overseas, Europe’s main London, Frankfurt and Paris markets barely budged in early moves, keeping MSCI’s 47- country world index just in the black on the day but facing its third red week in the last four.

(With inputs from Reuters)