India's stock benchmarks are on course to gain for the second straight day in a truncated week, led by energy, information technology, power, metal and realty stocks.
The Sensex gained 0.66% at 58,448.43, while the Nifty 50 rose 0.53% to 17,365.70 as of 1 p.m. on Thursday. Of the Nifty 50 constituents, 29 stocks rose and 21 fell.
Coal India Ltd., JSW Steel Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., ICICI Bank and Tata Steel Ltd. are the top Nifty 50 gainers. Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Cipla Ltd., Divi's Laboratories Ltd. declined the most.
The broader indices outperformed their larger peers. The mid-cap and small-cap gauges gained 1.2%. Eighteen of the 19 sectoral measures compiled by the BSE advanced, with metal rallying more than 3%. Only FMCG posted losses.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 2,357 stocks rose, 972 fell and 140 remained unchanged.
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