Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher amid volatility on F&O expiry

Domestic stock market indices ended marginally higher on Thursday amid high volatility on F&O expiry. The midcap index ended lower, while smallcap index closed over half a per cent higher.

Sensex leapt 642 points to hit a high of 50,376 in the intra-day deals. On the NSE, the Nifty touched a peak of 15,044. However, profit-booking at higher levels dragged indices down to 49,536 and 14,814, respectively.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, HCL Tech and L&T were among the laggards. “Domestic equities traded mostly in positive territory amid high volatility on futures and options (F&O) expiry. Notably, benchmark Nifty breached 15,000 levels during initial hours, but it could not sustain to those levels, said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

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Metal stocks were in focus on account of sustained price increase in ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Further, Reliance Industries remained in focus for the second consecutive day ahead of 4QFY21 results. Barring metals, financials and pharma, most of the key sectoral indices were in red, he noted. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended on a positive note, while Seoul was in the red.

(With inputs from agencies)