India stocks higher at close of trade; Nifty 50 up 2.01%

India stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Banking, Consumer Durables and Auto sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 gained 2.01% to hit a new 6-months high, while the BSE Sensex 30 index gained 2.17%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were ICICI Bank Ltd (NSE:ICBK), which rose 4.33% or 64.90 points to trade at 1,564.90 at the close. Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (NSE:MAHM) added 4.27% or 133.50 points to end at 3,261.00 and HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (NSE:HDFL) was up 3.53% or 19.20 points to 563.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (NSE:PGRD), which fell 0.90% or 2.35 points to trade at 258.80 at the close. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (NSE:TAMO) declined 0.61% or 1.80 points to end at 291.90 and Eicher Motors Ltd. (NSE:EICH) was down 0.61% or 47.00 points to 7,666.00.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (BO:MAHM) which rose 5.09% to 3,262.00, ICICI Bank Ltd (BO:ICBK) which was up 4.28% to settle at 1,563.40 and Titan Company Ltd (BO:TITN) which gained 3.36% to close at 4,994.00.

The worst performers were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (BO:PGRD) which was down 0.77% to 259.00 in late trade, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (BO:TAMO) which lost 0.73% to settle at 291.05 and Tech Mahindra Ltd (BO:TEML) which was up 0.05% to 1,821.90 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 1875 to 1115 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2439 fell and 1706 advanced, while 184 ended unchanged.

Shares in ICICI Bank Ltd (NSE:ICBK) rose to all time highs; rising 4.33% or 64.90 to 1,564.90. Shares in ICICI Bank Ltd (BO:ICBK) rose to all time highs; up 4.28% or 64.10 to 1,563.40.

The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was up 12.72% to 17.56 a new 3-months high.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.90% or 36.90 to $4,076.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.34% or 0.31 to hit $90.21 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.46% or 0.45 to trade at $97.84 a barrel.

USD/INR was down 0.53% to 93.97, while EUR/INR fell 1.00% to 104.94.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.46% at 101.90.