Sensex Ends Volatile Session Higher Led By HDFC, Kotak Bank

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 Indexes ended today's volatile session marginally higher led by gains in HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Tata Steel. However, losses in IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra capped the upside for the benchmarks. The benchmarks witnessed heightened volatility and the Sensex dropped as much as 555 points from intraday high of 39,435.80 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index fell below important level of 11,950.

The Sensex ended 0.17 per cent or 66 points higher at 39,113 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index closed unchanged at 11,691.

Fourteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Healthcare Index's 1.3 per cent decline. Industrials, Telecom, Auto and Oil & Gas Indexes also fell between 0.6 and 1 per cent each.

On the other hand, S&P BSE Realty Index was top gainer, up 1.2 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed selling pressure. The S&P BSE MidCap Index fell 0.7 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index declined 1.4 per cent.

Indiabulls Housing Finance and Yes Bank were among top losers in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, both the shares fell 8.5 and 4.9 per cent each on the back of high trading volume.

UPL, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Indian Oil, Tata Motors, BPCL and Dr. Reddy's Labs were also among the losers.

On the flipside, Tata Steel, Zee Entertainment, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Titan and HDFC were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 1,866 shares ended lower while 701 shares ended higher on the BSE.