Sensex, Nifty trade higher; UB group stocks fall

Indian markets traded off the day's high in the afternoon session Friday. The Sensex traded 210 points or 1.1 per cent higher at 18,790 while the broader Nifty advanced 60 points to 5,710.

Earlier, the Sensex had jumped nearly 300 points and the Nifty traded at the highest level since July 2011. The rupee, too, hit near five-month high bolstering sentiments on the Street.

Markets rallied on the back of positive global cues and the government's decision to stick to its planned borrowing target for the year. On Thursday, the government said it will not borrow more via bonds underlining its will to curb fiscal deficit and avoid a credit ratings downgrade.

All groups of stocks traded higher on the BSE. Auto stocks outperformed all groups of stocks and traded with over 2 per cent gains on the BSE. On the Nifty, 45 of the 50 stocks traded higher.

Aluminium maker Hindalco led the gains on the Nifty, rising 3.9 per cent. Commercial vehicles maker Tata Motors and infra and cement maker Jaiprakash Associates were the other stocks to witness over 3 per cent gains on the Nifty.

Drug makers saw selling pressure after the Group of Ministers (GoM) recommended revised pricing mechanism under New Pharma Pricing Policy yesterday, which suggests that the pricing cuts are worse than expected. Ranbaxy was the top Nifty loser, down 1 per cent.

Among other stocks, Kingfisher Airlines was locked down after falling 5 per cent after promoter Vijay Mallya said that the United Breweries Group will be not use proceeds from a possible stake sale in United Spirits to infuse funds into the debt laden carrier. Other group stocks also traded lower today.

The market breadth was positive with over 70 per cent stocks rising on the broader BSE 500.

Asian shares saw gains on hope that economic reform and budget plans unveiled by Spain will help the debt-saddled nation manage its debt imbalances. European markets also traded higher.

(With inputs from Thomson Reuters)