Sensex, Nifty off day’s high; ICICI ITC drag, Sun Pharma up 2%

Benchmark indices entered into consolidation phase after opening rally as investors closely watch GST Council meet on February 18 and assembly elections in five states that will end on March 8.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 30.88 points at 28186.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 7.05 points to 8731.75.

Market has digested most of the news post demonetisation emerging relatively unscathed and S Krishna Kumar of Sundaram Mutual Fund feels every dip can now be invested in.

On the outperformance in midcaps and smallcap space, he says, it is better to tread with caution and pick specific quality stocks than watching the broad market index.

SBI was up 1.4 percent after the merger of five associate banks received Cabinet approval. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore rallied 4-5 percent.

TCS gained 1.7 percent as it says the board of directors will consider buyback of shares on February 20.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories shares fell 2 percent after it got an unfavourable ruling in a US court regarding a patent infringement case over anti-nausea injection Aloxi.

ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T, Adani Ports, Asian Paints and Hero Motocorp were down 1-2 percent while Infosys, Sun Pharma and Maruti gained 1-2 percent.