Nifty, Sensex down, but sugar stocks sizzle

Indian benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex closed lower in Thursday’s trade. Nifty ended at 9,873, down by 26 points, and Sensex closed at 31,904, a loss of 50 points.
 
BSE Mid-cap index ended at 15,176 level, lower by 0.54 per cent. However, the index touched a record high of 15,275.91 level intra-day. BSE Small-cap index ended at 15,999 level, up 0.15 per cent. The BSE Small-cap index as well touched its life-time high of 16,050.59 during the trade session. India VIX ended at 11.31 level, up by 0.53 per cent.
 
Infosys, ITC and Reliance were the largest contributors to the index losses. In the closing hour, Infosys stood at Rs 968.75, down by 1.14 per cent, whereas, ITC ended at Rs 290.1, lower by 0.48 per cent.
 
Bajaj Finserv gained the most, while Canara Bank became the top loser in the mid-cap segment. Bajaj Finserv ended at Rs 4,682.1, up by 2.61 per cent, whereas Canara Bank ended at Rs 351.55, lower by over 5 per cent.
 
Bank Nifty hit its all-time high of 24,299 level in early trade. The index ended at 24,213 level, higher by 0.25 per cent. Axis Bank was the top driver of the index, closing at Rs 539.15, up by over 3 per cent.  
 
In the small-cap stocks, Sterlite Technologies gained the most, closing at Rs 206.75, up by 20 per cent. Mastek Limited became the top loser in the index, closing at Rs 325.55, down by 9.27 per cent.   
 
The sugar stocks were high on the bourses in Thursday’s trade on account of the rise in sugar prices on NCDEX and the imposition of import duty on sugar. Renuka Sugar gained the most, closing with a gain of over 9 per cent, while other sugar stocks, including Simbhaoli Sugar, Triveni Engineering and Dhampur Sugar were up by over 5 per cent each in Thursday’s trade.