No Moody's high! Sensex ends day 177 points up

NEW DELHI: The benchmark 30-stock index, Sensex, ended the day on a positive note on Thursday after witnessing a choppy trade through the day in a 100-point range.

The index had opened with a gap-up following a rating outlook upgrade by Moody's.

The Sensex ended the day at 28,885.21; up 177.46 points. The Nifty closed the session at 8,778.30; up 63.90 points.

However, today's last-hour jump may not be attributed to Moody's move as the trend was seen yesterday too, when the index saw a surge in late trade, closing 191 points up after moving in a narrow range through the day.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Pharma stocks fell after BofA-ML downgrade

- Sun Pharma fell 3.8% intarday, Lupin 3.66%, Cadila Healthcare 3.99% and Cipla 2.83%

- Axis Bank gained about 3% intraday; Canara Bank 2.57%

- PNB gained 5% intraday; Zee Entertainment 4.69%

- Kotak Bank gained 4.33%; IndusInd Bank 3.94%

- Brent crude jumps 2% to $57.05 a barrel; Brent volatility at highest level since 2008-09

- INOX Wind surged 30% intraday @ debut

- Tata Comm surged 9% intraday on talks of land sale

- REC surged 5% intraday; govt raised Rs 1,550 cr via OFS yesterday

- Kitex surged 10% intraday, is up 60% in four days

- Japan's Nikkei ended day at 19,937; HK shares hit 7-yr high

- Turnover of commodity bourses dips 39% in FY15

- Gold demand in India likely to drop by 17% in 2015