Market Now: Over 70 stocks hit fresh 52-week highs today

NEW DELHI: Backed by firm global cues, domestic equity markets were trading in the positive zone, with over 70 stocks hitting fresh 52-week high on NSE in Friday's trade.

Ambuja Cements, Bombay Dyeing, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, DCM Shriram, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, Emkay Global, Future Retail, Godrej Properties, Gruh Finance, India Nippon Electricals, L&T Finance Holdings, Maharashtra Scooters, Minda Industries and Tata Steel were the major stocks that hit fresh 52-week highs today.

On the other hand, 20 stocks, including Religare, Sri Adhikari, TV Vision, Alchemist, IMP Powers, KSS, Nakoda and Lanco Infratech hit fresh 52-week lows.

Benchmark indices registered good gains on continued buying by domestic institutional investors despite weak economic growth data for the June quarter.

Major gainers in early trade included Dr Reddy's, SunPharma, Lupin, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and State Bank of India.

Stocks of auto makers such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Auto were in better form and rose ahead of August month's sales numbers, to be released later in the day.

Benchmark Nifty50 index was 36 points up at 9,954, while the 30-share Sensex was 137 points up at 31,867 around 11.25 am (IST).

In the Nifty50 pack, 39 stocks were trading in green, while 12 stocks were in red.

On BSE, 1,563 stocks were advancing whereas 674 stocks were lagging.

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