Sensex continued to trade on a subdued note in noon deals on Tuesday on the back of selling in IT and oil & gas stocks.
The broader Nifty was hovering around important psychological level of 8,750 on the back of selling in heavyweights like HDFC, GAIL India, TCS, Wipro and HUL.
Shares of telecom giant Bharti Airtel jumped as much as 11 per cent to Rs 380 in trades today. Trading volumes on the counter surged as 4,35,000 shares changed hands on the BSE compared to its two-week average of 1,94,000 shares.
Defensive pockets like healthcare stocks were in high demand in trades today. The BSE healthcare index touched its record high of 17,224.
Cipla and Lupin were up nearly 1.5 per cent while Sun Pharma edged higher by 0.50 per cent. In comparison, Nifty was mostly flat.
Sun Pharma has been the big driver of the rally in BSE healthcare index. Sun Pharma surged nearly 21 per cent in eight sessions.
The mid-cap and small-cap stocks were also outperforming the benchmark indices. mid-cap and small-cap indices were up over 0.4 per cent each.
Meanwhile, Oil & gas, real estate, IT and leading financial stocks were witnessing selling pressure in the noon deals. The BSE realty index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.15 per cent.
From the Nifty basket, Zee Entertainment, Mahindra & Mahindra, Coal India, Bajaj Auto, and Larsen & Toubro were the top gainers. While, HDFC, GAIL India, TCS and ONGC were among the losers.
At 1:00 p.m., the Sensex was up 23 points at 28,868 and the Nifty advanced 1 point to 8,758.
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