India stocks higher at close of trade; Nifty 50 up 0.72%

Investing.com – India stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil&Gas, Metals and Public Sector Undertakings sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 gained 0.72%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index gained 0.61%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NS:BPCL), which rose 9.81% or 49.90 points to trade at 558.35 at the close. Meanwhile, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (NS:PGRD) added 4.25% or 11.30 points to end at 277.10 and Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (NS:ONGC) was up 3.88% or 9.60 points to 257.25 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Eicher Motors Ltd. (NS:EICH), which fell 2.74% or 107.65 points to trade at 3,825.55 at the close. Axis Bank Ltd (NS:AXBK) declined 1.59% or 17.20 points to end at 1,067.05 and HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (NS:HDFL) was down 1.40% or 8.20 points to 578.90.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (BO:PGRD) which rose 4.10% to 276.70, NTPC Ltd (BO:NTPC) which was up 3.28% to settle at 332.30 and Tata Steel Ltd (BO:TISC) which gained 2.89% to close at 138.70.

The worst performers were Axis Bank Ltd. (BO:AXBK) which was down 1.42% to 1,068.75 in late trade, HDFC Bank Ltd (BO:HDBK) which lost 1.33% to settle at 1,446.85 and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (BO:HLL) which was down 0.81% to 2,454.05 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 1091 to 1050 and 43 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 1931 rose and 1776 declined, while 92 ended unchanged.

Shares in Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NS:BPCL) rose to all time highs; gaining 9.81% or 49.90 to 558.35. Shares in Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (NS:PGRD) rose to all time highs; rising 4.25% or 11.30 to 277.10. Shares in Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (NS:ONGC) rose to 5-year highs; up 3.88% or 9.60 to 257.25. Shares in Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (BO:PGRD) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.10% or 10.90 to 276.70. Shares in NTPC Ltd (BO:NTPC) rose to all time highs; up 3.28% or 10.55 to 332.30.

The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was up 1.68% to 14.70.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.07% or 1.55 to $2,072.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.84% or 0.62 to hit $74.44 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.81% or 0.64 to trade at $79.34 a barrel.

USD/INR was down 0.06% to 82.91, while EUR/INR rose 0.11% to 90.28.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 102.78.