Sensex ends choppy day 49 pts down; DreamFolks rallies 42%; pvt banks weak

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: After swinging wildly in trade in the first half of the session, benchmark indices held muted gains during the second half. By close, the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 mildly below the flat line, down up to 0.08 per cent.

In absolute terms, the 30-pack index settled 49 points lower at 59,197, while the 50-share index dipped 20 points to end at 17,656.

Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Apollo Hospitals, Cipla, SBI Life, RIL were the top gainers, rising over 1 per cent each. On the flipside, Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj twins, UPL, Britannia, Kotak Bank, and M&M were the laggards, down up to 2.4 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap index edged 0.5 per cent higher, and the BSE SmallCap index adde 0.1 per cent. Shriram Transport Finance, Adani Power, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Tata Power, Rossell India, and GRM Ovrseas were some of the notable gainers in the space.

Among sectors, the Nifty Private Bank and FMCG indices were worst hit, down 0.5 per cent each. On the contrary, the Nifty Metal index climbed over 1 per cent. 

Primary market

DreamFolks Services made a strong stock market debut as its shares got listed at Rs 508.70, a 56 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 326 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday. On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 505, a 55 per cent premium over its issue price. The stock hit a high of Rs 550 on the BSE, and ended at Rs 463 per share, up 42 per cent higher against the issue price.

Meanwhile, the three-day issue of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank sailed through on the second day of the offer, backed by retail investors. The issue was subscribed 1.25 times by 3:30 PM, with retail portion seeing a subscription of 3 times; QIB 0.7 times; and NII 1.06 times.