Buoyancy in demand for pharma, banking and FMCG scrips saw the Nifty close above 6,100 levels to nearly a two-and–a-half-year high.
However, overall trading in the market was choppy and both the Nifty and the Sensex gained over 0.2 per cent in Saturday’s special trading session.
The Nifty closed at 6,107 – up 13 points, while the Sensex closed at 20,122 gaining 40 points.
BSE had announced that trading in its cash segment would be done out of its disaster recovery centre.
FIIs sold net equity worth Rs 1.77 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought net equity worth Rs 4.1 crore.
Retail investors on the BSE sold net equity worth Rs 2.65 crore.
Dr Reddy, Lupin, Sunpharma, Asian Paints and Ranbaxy were the top five Nifty gainers while TCS, NTPC, Infosys, BHEL and Tata Motors were the top five losers.
Prakash Diwan, Key Portfolio Strategist, Wealth Circle, said “Within the auto sector, only the passenger vehicles segment is not doing well. Maruti’s royalty payout has reduced on yen depreciation and Tata Motors is booking higher sales on JLR. Even tractor sales are up marginally, showing all is not bad.”
Volatility was marginally down and the volatility index India Vix closed at 16.84, down 0.12 per cent.