Sensex climbs 218 points, Ola Electric continues to slide

Mumbai, Oct 18 (IANS) The Indian stock market closed in the green on Friday with both the Sensex and Nifty indices jumping upwards.

Ola Electric’s stock continued to tank and closed at a record low of Rs 86.95. After making its public debut at Rs 76 apiece, the Bhavish Aggarwal-run EV company’s stock once reached an all-time high of Rs 157.40.

The stock has fallen over 45 per cent from its highest level since then. On Friday, Ola Electric’s stock touched a low of Rs 85.02 and a high of Rs 88.

Meanwhile, buying was seen in all sectors including auto, PSU banks, fin services, metal, realty, media, and energy except the IT and FMCG sectors.

The BSE Sensex closed at 81,224.75 after gaining 218.14 points, or 0.27 per cent, at the end of trading.

At the same time, the NSE Nifty closed at 24,854.05 after gaining 104.20 points or 0.42 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed in green at 58,649.15 after gaining 183.20 points or 0.31 per cent at the end of trading. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 19,077.80 after gaining 11.85 points or 0.06 per cent.

The market trend was mixed. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,942 stocks were trading in the green, and 1,993 stocks in the red, while 108 stocks closed unchanged.

Infosys, Asian Paints, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Titan, Maruti, ITC, Bajaj Finance, and M&M were the top losers in the Sensex pack. On the other hand, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, NTPC, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma, SBI, Adani Ports, TCS UltraTech Cement, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers.

Axis Bank, Wipro, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank, Shri Ram Finance, Hindalco, HDFC Life, and Grasim were the top gainers in the Nifty pack. Infosys, Asian Paints, Britannia, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bajaj Auto, and ITC were the top losers.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 7,421 crore on October 17, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 4,979 crore on the same day.

According to Krishna Appala, Senior Research Analyst at Capital Mind Research, the market extended its negative trajectory for the third consecutive week, with the Nifty 50 down 5.2 per cent from its recent peak.

"On a weekly basis, the Nifty 50 declined by 0.4 per cent, while the CNX Midcap dropped 0.7 per cent, and the CNX Smallcap showed a modest gain of 0.5 per cent," Appala said.

--IANS